Asymmetries and Power

Climate, land use and data flow: conciliating individual and collective rights

Objective: To investigate the relation between climate and data governance through legal research on agrarian databases and cattle traceability systems in Brazil. We aim to strengthen the dialog with the public bodies involved to construct public policies that include proper governance on personal data sharing and more robust transparency of those data. Added the interaction on the international sphere especially regarding COP30.

Duration: 2025 - 2026

Status: Em Andamento

Supporter(s): Instituto Clima e Sociedade - ICS

Description

The project “Climate, land use and data flow: conciliating individual and collective rights” arises from the project “Nature and information: contesting political instrumentalization of the LGPD in environmental regulation” in which studies on public transparency and data protection of Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) and Animal Transit Note (GTA) databases were developed. This new project aims to demonstrate the importance of broadening transparency of the Land Management System (Sigef) database. The studies’ premise is that environmental protection public policies benefit from a wider interaction with other databases such as land use and production, which is a finding from the previous project. That is why the investigation includes a second study focused on the Individual Cattle Traceability System o Pará (SRBIPA), a reference on linking of databases held by different public authorities.

That said, the project aims to strengthen the notion of balance between personal data protection and public transparency in order to guarantee social control over the public administration, access to justice and freedom of public interest information through a safe data flow. Since 2022, Data Privacy Brasil has observed an asymmetry regarding the level of transparency of environmental data which is mostly absent when information related to land owners is demanded. This asymmetry is set on the damage to local traditional communities and the environment that is not duly repaired because of the lack of transparency cooperation between public authorities, efficiency on land control and agents accountability.

Therefore, interaction with public authorities is essential in order to show the research’s results to bodies such as the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Supplies, Data Protection Authority, General Comptroller’s Office, National Institute for Agrarian Reform and Pará’s competent authorities. Aside from that, the theme of intersection between environmental protection, data protection and public transparency needs to arise in the COP30 discussions, a scenario that could accelerate the cooperation between environment protection and digital rights specialists.

Team

Rafael Zanatta Director

Pedro Saliba Coordinator

Rafael Zanatta | Director

Data Privacy Brazil Research Association

Co-director of Data Privacy Brasil. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Law School of the University of São Paulo (USP). He holds a PhD from the Institute of Energy and Environment of USP, with training at the Institute of Information Law of the University of Amsterdam. He has a Master's degree in Law and Political Economy from the University of Turin. He has a Master's degree in Philosophy and General Theory of Law from the Law School of USP. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Law from the State University of Maringá. He was a member of the Vulnera group at the Free University of Brussels and was a visiting researcher on platforms and digital economy at The New School. He edited the books “Sharing economies and law” (Juruá, 2017) and “Data, digital markets and competition” (Casa do Direito, 2022). He is the author of “Collective protection of personal data in Brazil: vectors of interpretation” (Letramento, 2023).

Pedro Saliba | Coordinator

Data Privacy Brazil Research Association

Lawyer and sociologist. PhD candidate in State Theory and Constitutional Law (PUC-Rio). Master in Sociology and Anthropology (PPGSA/UFRJ). Research on the intersection between personal data protection and public power, especially in the area of security and surveillance. Researcher at Núcleo Legalité; previously, he was a researcher at the Digital Studies Laboratory (LED/UFRJ). Coordinator of Asymmetries and Power at Data Privacy Brasil since 2023, researcher at Data since 2020.

Johanna Monagreda Researcher

Gabriela Vergili Researcher

Johanna Monagreda | Consultant

[email protected]

Ph.D. and master’s degree in Political Science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. She holds a Teaching Degree in Political and Administrative Science from the Central University of Venezuela. She is a researcher at the Center for Studies and Research on Women NEPEM/UFMG, and the author of the dissertation: “State has not given us any presents: Processes of institutionalizing demands from Afro-descendant movements in Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador.” Throughout her professional career, she has worked on important research in the field of human rights, racial equality policies, and policies for women in Latin America.

Gabriela Vergili | Researcher

[email protected]

Bachelor of Laws from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). Researcher at Data Privacy Brasil, having been part of the team since 2019, she has worked mainly on investigations into the use of personal data by public authorities and public transparency. She is currently a member of the Asymmetries and Power team and is dedicated to projects that relate to data protection, public transparency and climate justice.

Victor Barcellos Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Victor Barcellos | Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Data Privacy Teaching and Data Privacy Brasil Research Association

Research fellow 2022-2023 at Institute of Cooperative Digital Economy (ICDE) at The New School, NY. Ph.D. candidate in Communication and Culture at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Master of Science in Information Science from the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT). Bachelor of Social Communication with a major in Public Relations from the University of São Paulo (USP). Was a senior researcher of the Media Team at the Institute for Technology and Society (ITS Rio). Has a background in digital marketing, growth hacking, data analysis, social media management, content production, event organization, and press relations. In higher education, he has worked as a professor, researcher, and academic coordinator. Is the Marketing and Communications Coordinator at Data Privacy Brasil.