Brazilian legislator Alessandro Molon, the key author of the country’s ‘Marco Civil da Internet’ bill, which is designed to regulate internet uses and practices, has amended certain parts of the legislation ahead of a special commission meeting on Tuesday to vote on the draft proposals. It is thought that Molon’s amendments make more explicit the rights of internet users already established in the original draft proposal put forward by the government. Specifically, the main changes include clear measures to protect the personal data of internet users. Moreover, according to the legislator, the guarantee of freedom of expression has also been increased in the bill, in that web sites will have to provide information about any content that is removed and the reasons for its removal. Molon stopped short however, of including proposed regulation on cyber crimes and issues relating to copyright on the internet. Such issues need further and ‘focused debate’ and will be returned to in future.
The text of the Marco Civil da Internet obliges that internet service providers (ISPs) keep records of user connection (date, time and duration of the connection and IP address of the terminal) and access to applications (date and time that a particular site or service is accessed) for a period of one year, in a controlled environment and security. The police or administrative authority may also require precautionary custody of such data for longer than expected, it says. Access to this data will be handed over by the provider only upon court order.