During the current coronavirus pandemic, the Brazilian Federal Government has already created and publicized 130 digital services. However, while these applications have provided citizens with access to important benefits and activities, they have also raised debates about the protection of personal data.
The Internet Lab, a research center on internet and society, analyzed applications from various public entities in the context of the pandemic from the perspective of privacy and data protection. Among them was the federal government. The study analyzed the exposure of application users to risks, classifying them as low, intermediate, and high.
The government app was identified as having a high level of risk exposure, including the coronavirus-SUS and emergency aid apps, in relation to guarantees defined by law. The analyzed apps do not provide information about security measures for the collected data.
The study assessed whether the programs have a privacy policy, whether it is accessible, and whether it informs users what data is collected and the possibility of subsequent processing. The coronavirus-SUS app does not have a privacy policy. The emergency aid app also does not provide rules related to the collection and processing of user information. Only Caixa Econômica has a general privacy policy for all its online services.
“If the analyzed applications do not inform about the processing they perform for the application's purposes, they also do not inform about any subsequent processing of the data. That is, for purposes other than those to which the user consented. Considering the potential that the collected data has to provide information and qualify the public debate and research regarding the pandemic, these new uses should be considered,” the study authors state.
Despite the General Data Protection Law (LGPD) being getting closer and closerUp to the present moment, there have been no updates regarding data protection of citizens registered in the applications.
Some of the applications are:
- Emergency Aid – Intended for informal workers, individual micro-entrepreneurs (MEI), self-employed individuals, and the unemployed. The objective is to provide emergency protection during the period of coping with the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The benefit, in the amount of R$ 600,00, will be paid for three months, to up to two people from the same family.
- Coronavirus-SUS – launched with tips on how to avoid contagion, guidance on what to do in case of symptoms, and information on health units near the user. It sends notifications and updates from the Ministry of Health, gathered on a single portal. According to the ministry, 14 million people accessed the site in April.
- Digital Work Permit – For those workers who have had their working hours and salaries reduced or their contracts temporarily suspended, the app allows access to previous employment contracts and information on benefits such as unemployment insurance and salary bonus.
- My Single Registry – This is for issuing the document that proves your registration in the Unified Registry. The registry was created by the Federal Government to allow low-income Brazilian families access to various social programs.
