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BRAZIL

Since August 2014

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Indicator Restrictions on online payments
Interpretative Act No. 7 of August 2014 (Ato Declaratório Interpretativo No. 7, de 2014)
The Interpretative Act No. 7 of August 2014, issued by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Secretariat (Receita Federal do Brasil – RFB), deals with the taxation of cross-border payments for data centres outside Brazil. It applies to all amounts paid, credited, delivered or remitted by individuals or legal entities resident or domiciled in Brazil to companies headquartered abroad that are identified as offshore data centres.
According to the Act, when the Brazilian source of payment hires offshore data centres for the use of infrastructure for storage and remote high-performance data processing systems, the transactions are deemed to be typical provision of services and cannot be characterised as rental of movable assets for tax purposes. The consequence of this interpretation is that the use of offshore data centres triggers the following federal taxes in Brazil:
- Withholding income tax (Imposto sobre a Renda Retido na Fonte – IRFF) at the rate of 15% or 25% whenever the recipient is located in a tax haven jurisdiction;
- Cide-royalties contribution (Contribuição de Intervenção no Domínio Econômico destinada a financiar o Programa de Estímulo à Interação Universidade-Empresa para o Apoio à Inovação – Cide-royalties), at the rate of 10%;
- PIS-importation contribution (Contribuição para o PIS/Pasep-Importação) at the rate of 1.65%;
- Cofins-importation contribution (Contribuição para o Cofins-Importação) at the rate of 7.6%; and
- IOF (Imposto sobre Operações de Câmbio), which is the financial tax levied on the foreign exchange transaction, at the rate of 0.38%.
Coverage Online payments

BRAZIL

Since August 2018, entry into force in September 2020

Pillar Domestic data policies  |  Indicator Framework for data protection
Law No. 13,709 of 14 August 2018 - General Personal Data Protection Law (Lei No. 13.709, de 14 de agosto de 2018 - Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais)
The Personal Data Protection Law provides a framework for comprehensive data protection in Brazil. It applies to the treatment of personal data, including through digital means, by natural or juridical persons of a public or private nature. The law applies regardless of the country of origin of the person and the country where data is located provided that: data treatment is made in the national territory; or data treatment activities aims at the supply of goods or services or data treatment of individuals located in the national territory; or data has been collected in the national territory.
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

Since April 2014

Pillar Domestic data policies  |  Indicator Minimum period for data retention
Law No. 12,965 of 2014 - Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Lei No. 12.965 de 2014 - Marco Civil da Internet)
Art. 13 of the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet states that connection logs of Internet service providers (ISPs) should be retained for a minimum period of one year. The police, administrative authorities, or the Public Prosecutor's Office may request in a precautionary manner that the connection logs be kept for a longer period. Authorities have a period of 60 days, counting from the time of the request, to obtain a court order to access the information.
Coverage Internet service providers (ISPs)

BRAZIL

Since April 2014

Pillar Domestic data policies  |  Indicator Minimum period for data retention
Law No. 12,965 of 2014 - Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Lei No. 12.965 de 2014 - Marco Civil da Internet)
According to Art. 15 of the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, internet application providers that are constituted as a legal entity and that carry out this activity in an organised manner professionally and with economic purposes must retain the respective records of access to the Internet applications for a period of six months. Internet applications are defined in Art. 5 (VII) as a set of functionalities that can be accessed through a terminal connected to the Internet.
Coverage Internet application providers

BRAZIL

Since August 2013

Pillar Domestic data policies  |  Indicator Minimum period for data retention
Criminal Organisation Law (Lei No. 12.850)
According to Art. 17 of Criminal Organisation Law, concessionaires of fixed or mobile telephony must keep, for a period of five years, at the disposal of the Police Chief or the Public Prosecutor, records of identification of the terminal numbers of origin and destination of international, long distance and local phone calls.
Coverage Telecommunication sector

BRAZIL

Since 2021
Since August 2018, entry into force in September 2020

Pillar Domestic data policies  |  Indicator Requirement to perform a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) or have a data protection officer (DPO)
National Agency for Data Protection - Guidelines for the Appointment of Data Treatment Agents and Data Protection Officers, 2021 (Agência Nacional de Proteção de Dados - Diretrizes para a Nomeação de Agentes de Tratamento de Dados e Encarregados de Proteção de Dados, 2021)

Law No. 13,709 of 14 August 2018 - General Personal Data Protection Law (Lei No. 13.709, de 14 de agosto de 2018 - Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais)
The Guidelines for the Appointment of Data Treatment Agents and Data Protection Officers clarify Art. 41 of the Data Protection Law, setting out that all institutions, either public or private, have an obligation to appoint a Data Protection Officer ("encarregado") (DPO). A previous reading of the Art. 23 of Law led to the conclusion that only public institutions would be obliged to appoint a DPO. However, the guidelines state that the Data Protection Law does not determine the circumstances in which an organisation should appoint a DPO. Therefore, as a general rule, one must assume that all organisations must appoint a DPO. However, §3 of Art. 41 states that future regulations of the National Authority may determine the hypothesis for the dispensation of the need to appoint a DPO, taking into account the nature, size, and volume of data treatment operations
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

Since April 2014

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Indicator Safe harbour for intermediaries for copyright infringement
Law No. 12,965 of 2014 - Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Lei No. 12.965 de 2014 - Marco Civil da Internet)
The Civil Rights Framework for the Internet law establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries for copyright infringements. Art. 18 states that “the Internet connection provider shall not be subject to civil liability for content generated by third party”. Art. 19, which addresses Internet application providers (excluding connection providers), states that “in order to ensure freedom of expression and to prevent censorship, an Internet application provider shall only be subject to civil liability for damages caused by virtue of content generated by third parties if, after specific court order, it does not take action, according to the framework and technical limits of its services and within the time-frame ordered, to make the infringing content unavailable.”
Coverage Internet intermediaries

BRAZIL

Since April 2014

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Indicator Safe harbour for intermediaries for any activity other than copyright infringement
Law No. 12,965 of 2014 - Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Lei No. 12.965 de 2014 - Marco Civil da Internet)
The Civil Rights Framework for the Internet law establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries beyond copyright infringements. Art. 18 states that “the Internet connection provider shall not be subject to civil liability for content generated by third party”. Art. 19, which addresses Internet application providers (excluding connection providers), states that “in order to ensure freedom of expression and to prevent censorship, an Internet application provider shall only be subject to civil liability for damages caused by virtue of content generated by third parties if, after specific court order, it does not take action, according to the framework and technical limits of its services and within the time-frame ordered, to make the infringing content unavailable.”
Coverage Internet intermediaries

BRAZIL

Since July 2003
Since August 2007

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Indicator User identity requirement
Resolution No. 477 of 7 August 2007 (Resolução No. 477, de 7 de agosto de 2007)

Law No. 10,703 on the Registration of Prepaid Mobile Phone Users and Other Provisions (Lei No. 10.703, Dispõe sobre o Cadastramento de Usuários de Telefones Celulares Pré-Pagos e Dá Outras Providências)
According to Art. 1 of Law 10.703, it is the responsibility of prepaid telecommunications service providers operating in the national territory to have an updated register of users. The registration, in addition to the full name and address, must contain, in the case of natural persons, the identity card number or registration number in the registry of the Ministry of Finance.
In addition, under Art. 42 of Resolution No. 477, users must provide a minimum set of personal data to be able to subscribe to a mobile telephone service. This information includes name, identity card number, and taxpayer number.
Coverage Telecommunications sector

BRAZIL

Since July 2011

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods and online services  |  Indicator Other import restrictions, including non-transparent/discriminatory import procedures
Ordinance No. 23, of 14 July 2011, of the Secretary of Foreign Trade (Portaria No. 23, de 14 de julho de 2011, da Secretaria de Comércio Exterior)
According to Arts. 41 and No. 42 of Ordinance 23 of July 2011 of the Secretary of Foreign Trade, the importation of used machinery, equipment, devices, instruments, moulds, and containers are prohibited unless these used goods are not produced in the country or are irreplaceable by other similar products manufactured in the country.
Coverage Used computer and used telecommunications products

BRAZIL

Signed in November 2018, entry into force January 2022

Pillar Cross-border data policies  |  Indicator Participation in trade agreements committing to open cross-border data flows
Chile-Brazil Bilateral Trade Agreement (Brazil Chile FTA)
Brazil has joined an agreement with binding commitments to open data transfers across borders: the Chile-Brazil Bilateral Trade Agreement (Art. 10.12).
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

Since June 1998

Pillar Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)  |  Indicator Copyright law with clear exceptions
Law No. 9,610 of 1998 - Brazilian Copyright Law (Lei No. 9.610, de 1998 - Lei de Direitos Autorais)
Brazil has a copyright regime under Law 9.610. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted works by third parties. Sections 46-48 list the exceptions, which include: the reproduction of news or informative articles published in newspapers or periodicals, mentioning the author's name; speeches delivered at public meetings of any nature; portraits, or any other form of representation of the image, made on commission, when made by the owner of the object ordered, without opposition from the person represented in them or his/her heirs; among others.
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

Reported in 2017, last reported in 2023

Pillar Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)  |  Indicator Enforcement of copyright online
Lack of adequate enforcement of copyright online
It is reported that there are long-standing concerns about the IP enforcement regime in Brazil and that online piracy, the use of illicit streaming devices (ISD), video game piracy, piracy in the metaverse, signal theft and the use of unlicensed software in the country remain major obstacles to the adoption of legitimate content distribution channels.
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

N/A

Pillar Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)  |  Indicator Adoption of the WIPO Copyright Treaty
Lack of signature of the WIPO Copyright Treaty
Brazil has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

N/A

Pillar Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)  |  Indicator Adoption of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
Lack of signature of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
Brazil has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
Coverage Horizontal

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