Sanctioned 22 years ago, the Brazilian Civil Code might be significantly altered by a Bill. This bill is based on the final report presented by the Federal Senate’s Commission of Jurists in February this year, presided by the Judge of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Luís Felipe Salomão.

Among the suggested changes, the bill addresses the regulation of Digital Law matters, such as:

(i) the provision of services and access to digital content, covering the creation, storage, sharing and access to data in digital format, as well as the security expected from the provider when delivering the service; and

(ii) gaming and betting carried out in digital or electronic media, through a limited effectiveness rule, which foresees that this matter will comply with its own law, while the Civil Code will only be applicable in case of an omission in the specific legislation.

In addition, under the premise of strengthening the exercise of private autonomy, preserving people’s dignity and promoting the security of intangible personal assets, the Bill for the new Civil Code foresees a complementary book to address Digital Civil Law specifically.

In this proposed book, terms such as virtual environment and online platform are defined, as well as articles on the rights of natural or legal persons in the digital environment, covering topics such as the protection of personal data and information, the guarantee of personality rights in all their expressions, access to mechanisms for fair composition and full reparation of damages in cases of violation of rights in the digital environment, among other topics.

The bill was submitted for deliberation by the Brazilian Federal Senate on April 17th of this year and aims at regulating conflicts that the ordinary legislator in 2002 could not predict, especially those related to the digital sphere.

Our team of experts is closely following this issue and is available to answer any questions there may be.