Brazil data privacy laws

Privacy and government interaction with social media have been major topics of concern, especially since the NSA leaks. Now, these policies are gaining more attention in Brazil.

The Brazilian government has already enacted the first set of regulations around data and internet governance. Known as the “Internet Constitution,” or Marco Civil da Internet, the document aims to establish the rights and duties of Brazilian citizens, the government and businesses regarding internet use. It has been in the works since 2009 but has been fast tracked since the U.S. spying news broke in July.

Now, according to a ZDNet article, Facebook and Google are expressing concerns because of recent proposed amendments. The main issue revolves around a requirement that all data be stored locally. A Facebook spokesman said this addition is an “enormous technical challenge” and could cause problems for the Brazil’s internet service.

William Beer, a security expert at consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, warned that this move would complicate an already difficult landscape.

“[The Brazilian government] needs to be very careful as there are a lot of datacenter-related issues already, such as the high cost of electricity, access to skills and even the temperature, which makes it expensive to run those facilities in Brazil,” Beer said. “Then if you add regulation that will present further obstacles, companies might end up moving their IT operations to other South American countries where the rules are not so strict.”

Beers went on to say that this law could be voted on as a knee-jerk reaction to the privacy issues in the U.S. before it is actually ready to be implemented in Brazi