Access to Information, privacy, and health research in Brazil

Miriam Ventura

IESC/UFRJ

Access to public information in Brazil is a fundamental citizen’s right, establishing the public nature and availability of all information produced by the state or in its power. Brazil’s Law on Access to Information only allows restrictions on access to information classified as secret for reasons of security or public health, or to personal information the confidentiality of which guarantees the right to privacy. The recently enacted Law n. 12.527/2011 3 regulates the comprehensive right of access to public information, providing state duties to efficiently manage government documents or those under government custody, and to make knowledge and consultation thereof available to all. Availability, authenticity, and integrity are the main legal attributes of public information.