The Brazilian Civil Code is undergoing a series of changes, that occur as a result of recurring decisions made by courts throughout the national territory. Among them, the creation of Digital Law, establishing protection and guarantees for citizens within the virtual environment
The changes in legislation regarding the regulation of law in the online environment are positive and quite welcome, given that in this regard Brazil is still behind the United States and countries of the European Union, that a few years ago published its own declaration on digital rights and principles. Thus, the new Brazilian legislation comes at a good time to increase the debate and the questioning about the subject
When defining the legality and regularity of the acts and activities that take place in the digital environment, the goal is to strengthen the exercise of private autonomy, preserving the dignity of people and organizations and the security of their assets. It is viewed very positively, for example, the definition of what digital heritage is and its correlation with inheritance law
With the regulation, digital assets can be inherited and described in a will. This is extremely important for today's days, in which YouTube channels, for example, can have billion-dollar values. The legal successors of deceased individuals can request that their profiles on social networks be deleted or converted into memorials
With the legislation, it guarantees the removal oflinksin search engines that display intimate personal images, creating the possibility of compensation for victims. However, nowadays, the inclusion of civil liability for data breaches is already something very well regulated by the General Data Protection Law – LGPD (Law No. 13.709/2018). Address the same issue in two laws of the same level can, in the future, generate interpretative confusions
This demonstrates that perhaps some inclusions of Digital Law into the Civil Code may not be the most appropriate. Meanwhile, it is known that mistakes are part of the evolution of the subject, still quite new to the legislator. The main benefit of the changes is legal certainty for both individuals and companies, allowing their conduct to be regulated in a reasonably predictable and stable manner
In points where the law remains vague, generating margin for different interpretations, the decisions made by the courts will be binding. These will standardize their understandings as the volume of legal issues increases and is brought for consideration
Other important changes planned include the recognition of digital identity as an official means of identifying citizens, with regulation on the use of electronic signature; and the requirement for clear identification of the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools. Authorization will be required for the creation of images of people, whether they are still alive or already deceased
