São Paulo –New rules for the use of internet will come into effect this Monday (23rd). Law 12.965/14, known as Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, will be a sort of constitution for the sector, which will establish rights and duties for internet users and providers of the country. After being approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate, the draft was sanctioned by president Dilma Russef and published on April 24th, with a 60-day period to come into effect.
One of the main changes for the users will be the network neutrality, i.e. the guarantee that the traffic will have the same quality and speed, no matter the use. The user will not have its speed reduced according to the usage and companies may no longer, for example, reduce the connection speed to hamper the use of products of competitors.
Another users’ right is related to privacy. According to the new law, personal information and access logs may only be sold if the user explicitly allows the sale. Currently, the data are collected and sold by the companies, which have access to internet user’s preferences and options.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça