Brazilians mostly unaware of data protection regulations

Consumers in Brazil are mostly unaware of the country’s data protection rules and fail to question companies’ personal data management practices, a new study has found.

The survey carried out by Brazilian credit intelligence company Boa Vista with over 500 consumers between August and September 2020 suggests that over 70% of those polled do not know what the General Data Protection Regulations are.

The vast majority of the consumers polled (90%) feel their personal information is not protected appropriately by the companies requesting them, while 77% have expressed concerns over potential misuse of their data. Of the Brazilian consumers surveyed, 40% said they have been victims of fraud.

On the other hand, 53% of the Brazilian consumers surveyed said they don’t always take measures to protect their privacy before informing their personal data to companies. While 88% of respondents said they don’t feel comfortable informing data such as their taxpayer registration number, 55% don’t challenge companies when asked for such personal information.

Brazil’s data protection regulations were sanctioned by president Jair Bolsonaro on September 18, after nearly a month of uncertainty over the actual go-live date of the rules. The board members of the body responsible for enforcing the regulations, the National Data Protection Authority, were appointed in late October.

A survey carried out by the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES) in partnership with EY soon after the introduction of the rules found that most Brazilian companies still needed to adjust to the rules. A subsequent study by ABES and EY found the technology sector fared better, but 56% of companies in the sector still needed to comply with the new regulations.

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