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Brazil Bans Mass Personal Data Collection, Grants Web Security [Albany Tribune (OR)](Albany Tribune (OR) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) By VOR Ahead of a two-day Net Mundial international conference in Sao Paulo on the future of the Internet, Brazil’s Senate has unanimously adopted a bill which guarantees online privacy of Brazilian users and ensures equal access to the global network. The bill known as the “Internet constitution” was first introduced following the NSA spying scandal and is now expected to be signed into law by President Dilma Rousseff, one of the primary targets of the US intelligence apparatus, according to Edward Snowden’s revelations. The bill promotes freedom of information by making service providers not liable for content published by their users, instead forcing the companies to obey court orders to remove any offensive material. It also limits the gathering and use of metadata on Internet users in Brazil. The principle of neutrality, calling on providers to grant equal access to service without charging higher rates for greater bandwidth use, is also promoted. Senate approval was assured after the government dropped a provision in the legislature requiring Internet companies such as Twitter and Facebook to store data on Brazilian users at home. The final version of the bill states that companies collecting data on Brazilian accounts must obey Brazilian data protection laws even if the data is collected and stored on servers abroad. The demand of the use of Brazilian data centers had been added to the legislation last year after Snowden’s leaks reveal the extent of NSA’s spying network and wiretapping of President Dilma Rousseff communications. NSA was also involved on spying on Brazil’s strategic business sector, particularly on a state-run oil company Petrobras. The adoption of the bill was a top priority for the Brazilian leader as a two-day Net Mundial conference in Sao Paulo is scheduled to open in Brazil on Wednesday, where interested parties intend to discuss cyber security amid the NSA spying scandal. Safeguarding privacy and freedom of expression on the Internet are also among the topics to be discussed according to a draft agenda. US officials will attend the meeting alongside representatives from dozens of other states. The article Brazil Bans Mass Personal Data Collection, Grants Web Security appeared first on Albany Tribune News. (c) 2014 Buzz Future LLC Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |