Brazil’s courts under pressure in the absence of a data protection authority

According to the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), Brazilian courts may face a backlog of privacy cases in the absence of a functioning data protection authority. As the imposition of administrative sanctions based on the new Brazilian general data protection regulation (LGPD) has been delayed until August 2021, immediate civil litigation remains however possible. Brazil’s Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories has already filed the first lawsuit for LGPD violations over the alleged sale of 500,000 citizens’ personal information. Despite the fact that the LGPD was accompanied by an executive order that a data protection authority should be established, but the authority is not yet functioning.