An initiative by Grupo RBS seeks to adapt its business to the General Data Protection Law, already in effect in Brazil, to protect and respect privacy.
With the LGPD (General Data Protection Law) coming into effect in September 2020, all companies began to prioritize adaptation projects to protect the privacy and data of clients, users, and consumers.
Those who didn't wait until the last minute came out ahead. Many organizations had already been working in this direction for quite some time and today possess the most advanced privacy protection mechanisms for readers, subscribers, and other individuals such as employees and partners. One of them is Grupo RBS.
Concern for user privacy has always been part of the company's governance activities, systems planning, and processes. However, it was from 2016 onwards, with the popularization of the GDPR (European General Data Protection Regulation), that projects with a central focus on data protection began to stand out.
The journey towards compliance is an ongoing process, as embedding concern for privacy and data protection is a cultural endeavor. Several processes are still being adapted, while others are already more advanced.
According to Péricles Cenço, IT director of Grupo RBS, “An LGPD (Brazilian General Data Protection Law) project is a cultural shift that involves rethinking processes and systems. For RBS, most of the data transmitted belongs to the readers, and it is our duty as temporary guardians of the data to protect it with the utmost rigor and control.”
The PrivacyTools platform supports the success of the Group's LGPD compliance project, working on several fronts such as: cookie management, privacy policy control, consent and privacy preference management, data discovery, data mapping and flow, and integrations to automate the workflows for fulfilling data subjects' rights.
According to Wilen Manteli, DPO of Grupo RBS, “The LGPD (Brazilian General Data Protection Law) imposed changes on the systems and processes that handle personal data, establishing the privacy of customers and other stakeholders as a priority. It is therefore necessary to guarantee compliance with the rights of personal data subjects, as well as all other requirements of the new legislation. To meet these requirements, we sought a platform that would allow us to do so in an integrated way with our systems and processes, thus adopting best practices of privacy by design.”
A family-controlled company, Grupo RBS has recognized the importance of and developed its corporate governance from a very early stage, following the principles of transparency and guided by best practices.
The creation of a privacy program involved the formation of a committee and included legal and compliance consulting from the law firm Baptista Luz Advogados. The firm was hired in 2019 to conduct a comprehensive diagnosis of the RBS Group to identify any existing gaps and adapt them to the General Data Protection Law (LGPD). Following this, they assisted in developing the group's privacy governance structure, adjusting internal processes, updating legal instruments, training the team, conducting supplier due diligence, and supporting the adoption of technologies necessary for the proper management of the privacy program's policies.
RBS's governance is structured based on the harmonious interaction between three circles: ownership, family, and business. In recognition of this, the media group received the 2006 Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance Award – Non-listed Company and The Family Business Management Excellence Award (August 2007) from the Owner Management Business Institute.
A Privacy Tools It is the first privacy tech company in Brazil: a governance platform for privacy, risk, data, and artificial intelligence for organizations operating under multiple regulatory frameworks, such as LGPD, GDPR, AI Act, and ISO standards.
Founded in 2019 by Aline Deparis and Marison Souza in Porto Alegre, it serves organizations such as Rede D'Or, Banco RCI, Copel, Eletrobras, Usiminas, and Grupo RBS, with over 200 treatment activities mapped on the platform. Learn more at [website address - not provided in the original text]. About Privacy Tools.
For media outlets, PrivacyTools solutions help maintain the privacy of those browsing online articles by managing cookies authorized by readers, writing Privacy Policies, and mapping user data that is collected and used, in order to recognize and minimize the risk of leaks or misuse of information.
