Enforcement of Brazil’s new Data Protection Law postponed due to COVID-19

The Coronavirus is affecting South America, like the rest of the world, and it is spreading rapidly in its largest country: Brazil. Brazil’s Government and Legislators try to handle both the public health crisis and the economic crisis that the country is facing. Now both branches have adopted emergency measures to alleviate the effects of the virus, even impacting the enforcement of the country’s new national Data Protection Law (“Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais” or “LGPD”).

The National Congress of Brazil only passed the LGPD in August 2018. It was originally scheduled to come into effect on 15 August 2020 (we reported). As the effects of the Coronavirus began to impact Brazilian businesses, many companies called for the postponement of the LGPD’s effective date due to the difficult economic environment and due to the fact that Brazil’s national Data Protection Authority (“ANPD”) is still not fully functional.

On 3 April 2020, the Senate of Brazil unanimously approved of the Law Bill “PL 1179/2020” which includes a provision to delay the effective date of the LGPD until 1 January 2021. Furthermore, the Bill sets forth that non-compliance with the LGPD shall not be sanctioned by the Data Protection Authorities until 1 August 2021.

The second chamber of Brazil’s National Congress, the House of Representatives, debated “PL 1179/2020” all throughout April 2020 and considered the implications of the LGPD’s postponement for the privacy rights of individuals, especially with many emergency measures on the way that were increasingly restrictive on privacy rights. A vote on “PL 1179/2020” by the House of Representatives was still pending by the end of the month.

On 29 April 2020, the President of Brazil took matters into his own hands when he issued Provisional Measure #959/2020. The measure postponed the effective date of the LGPD to 3 May 2021, without segmenting the postponement into two stages like the Senate’s Law Bill “PL 1179/2020” stipulated.

Provisional Measures issued by the President of Brazil serve as temporary law and are valid for a period of 60 days which the President may extend for another 60 days. During this time period, both chambers of the National Congress must approve of the Provisional Measure in order to become permanent law. If Congress disapproves, the measure will be invalidated.