Access to Information Law: How to Obtain Data from the Government

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

Brazil’s Access to Information Law has now been in force for more than a decade and has become an established legal tool for active and passive transparency, although practical obstacles remain for citizens seeking data held by the government.

The Reach of Law 12.527/2011

Law 12.527/2011, implemented at the federal level by Decree 7.724/2012, gives effect to the constitutional command in Article 5, item XXXIII, of the Federal Constitution, under which everyone has the right to receive information from public bodies, whether it concerns their own interests or the interests of the public. The law broke with the culture of administrative secrecy. It made openness the rule and limited secrecy to well-grounded exceptions.

The access regime applies to public bodies in the direct administration of all three branches of government, as well as autarchies (autonomous government agencies), public foundations, state-owned companies, mixed-capital companies, and other entities controlled directly or indirectly by the Federal Government, the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities. It also reaches, where applicable, private nonprofit organizations that receive public funds, with respect to the portion of the funds received and how they are used.

The legislature provided two ways of meeting the duty of transparency. Active transparency requires public entities to publish information of public interest on their own initiative, without any request, mainly on official websites. Passive transparency, by contrast, is triggered when a citizen submits a request.

How to Submit a Request for Information

Any interested person, whether an individual or a legal entity, may submit a request, and no reason has to be given. The ban on demanding a reason is a structural feature of the system. It turns access into a public right that you hold as an individual, rather than an administrative favor that depends on the approval of a government employee.

At the federal level, the preferred channel is the Electronic Citizen Information Service System, known by its acronym e-SIC and now integrated into the Fala.BR platform. States and municipalities maintain their own citizen information services, each with its own address for filing requests. The deadline for a response is twenty days from the filing of the request, and it can be extended by ten more days with an express justification.

Access to information is generally free of charge. A fee is allowed only when documents have to be copied, and even then the agency may recover only its actual material costs. It may not set a price in order to raise revenue.

If a request is denied, you may appeal within ten days to an authority higher up the chain of command than the one who made the decision. Once the internal appeal is exhausted, you may turn to the Office of the Comptroller General (Controladoria-Geral da União) in federal cases and, as a last resort, to the courts, through a mandado de segurança (a special constitutional writ, comparable to a petition for mandamus) or an ordinary lawsuit, depending on the circumstances of the case.

The legislature provided two ways of meeting the duty of transparency.

Legitimate Limits and Recurring Abuses

The law itself sets out cases in which access may be restricted, classified into three levels: restricted, secret, and top secret, with maximum terms of five, fifteen, and twenty-five years, respectively. Information is kept confidential if its release could endanger the security of society or the State, as well as information protected by tax, banking, commercial, or industrial secrecy or by judicial seal.

Personal data concerning intimacy, private life, honor, and image receive separate protection, and their handling is now also governed by the Brazilian General Personal Data Protection Law. Reconciling Law 12.527/2011 with Law 13.709/2018 requires a case-by-case balancing, because both public transparency and the protection of the individual hold the status of fundamental rights.

In administrative practice, evasive answers are common. So are secrecy classifications without solid grounds, and referrals to web pages that do not contain the information requested. Such conduct violates the law and exposes the responsible official to disciplinary liability, as Article 32 of the law expressly provides. It also leaves the denial open to court review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can submit a request under the Access to Information Law?

Any individual or legal entity, Brazilian or foreign, can submit a request, without having to show a specific interest or give a reason. You only need to identify yourself and describe the information you want clearly.

What is the legal deadline for a response to a request for information?

The agency has twenty days from the filing of the request to respond. This period can be extended by ten more days, as long as the agency tells you about the extension and gives an express justification. A decision denying access must state its legal basis and allow for an administrative appeal.

What should I do if my request goes unanswered or access is denied?

You may appeal within ten days to the authority higher up the chain of command. If the internal administrative route is exhausted without a satisfactory result, you may bring the matter to the competent oversight body, such as the Office of the Comptroller General at the federal level. If the denial continues, you may go to the courts, where the mandado de segurança is the proper procedural vehicle to protect the clear and undisputed right of access.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.