ABES has just released a manifest in which it requests the partial veto of PL 317, which provides for charging for access to public data due to the public interest.
For the association, “eventual legality regarding the practice of charging and inflexible channeling of the means of access to open data, through unilateral action by the State, will make possible fertile ground for the creation of real oligopolies of state data, as far as it will fit, discretion, to each entity the definition of collection convenience ”.
Another excerpt from the manifesto also says: “with regard to economic principles, the collection of values intended for purely tax purposes, without tangible counterparts to civil society, goes against the premises of the open format of public data”.
See the full manifesto below or download the document in this link.
MANIFESTED BY THE PARTIAL VETO OF PL 317/2021, which provides for charging for access to public data due to the public interest.
ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies has respectfully requested the support of the Executive Branch bodies in favor of the partial veto of PL 317/2021, which provides for principles, rules and instruments for the Digital Government and for increasing public efficiency, with the deletion of the wording contained in the third paragraph of article 29 of the PL, which reads:
"Art. 29. The data made available by public service providers […].
- 3 - Service providers and public bodies and entities whose object is to provide information processing services and data processing […] are charged for the use value […] ”
Over the past decade, we have achieved significant advances in the adoption of principles and rules applicable to the interaction between the State, citizens and the private sector. Federal Law No. 12,527 / 2011, known as the Access to Information law, provides that the information regarding the State's activity is public, except for those expressed in the legislation. Said Law is the basis for requests for access to information made by academics, citizens, professionals, research and scientific institutions. It is also the basis used by startups and now mature companies that propose the use of data in a manner linked to other products and services resulting from the now well-established digital economy. Examples can be found in the most varied sectors, such as LegalTechs, RegTechs, EdTechs, AgTechs and HealthTechs.
In the field of Digital Government, the PL intends to bring greater efficiency and speed to public services, deepening the opening of data, inserted as a principle of Digital Government:
Art. 3 The principles and guidelines of the Digital Government and public efficiency are:
XIV - the interoperability of systems and the promotion of open data;
It is worth mentioning that the Open Data Plan (PDA) of the CGU-Federal Government foresaw the opening of a total of 23 databases by the end of the year 2020, having had a compliance rate of 96% according to the CGU itself[1].
The deepening of the public policy of opening public data already instituted by pre-existing legal instruments to PL 317/2021 has in its core the intention to reaffirm such public policy, recognizing on the other hand the need of the public administration to have better access infrastructure public data and enable innovation.
With regard to economic principles, the collection of values intended for purely tax purposes, without tangible counterparts to civil society, goes against the premises of the open format of public data. Furthermore, considering that the availability of data managed by the Administration comes from a logic of transparency in public management, access to information and other objectives expressly provided for in our organization, the financial constraint that it intends to impose on access to data from public databases causes a rupture in the public duty of: i) wide dissemination of data; ii) provision of infrastructure suitable for its access.
The proposed item imposes restrictions on those who intend to access the data, reversing the logic and the State's own role as the owner of the information. Burdening private agents means creating barriers to entry and disincentives to innovation, free competition and economic freedom, valued by so many other legal instruments, in particular by Law 13,874 / 19, which instituted the Declaration on the Rights of Economic Freedom.
Eventual legality regarding the practice of charging and inflexible channeling of means of access to open data, through unilateral action by the State, will make possible fertile ground for the creation of true oligopolies of state data, insofar as it will fit, discretionarily, to each entity the definition of billing convenience. Such a measure is diametrically opposed to the concept of open data and that, invariably, will create bottlenecks preambular to the private economic activity related to the treatment of such data.
As votes of esteem and consideration, we appreciate the consideration of the arguments set out above for the partial veto of PL 317/2021, in particular of Article 29, paragraph 3.
ABES
[1] https://www.gov.br/cgu/pt-br/governo-aberto/noticias/2020/10/cgu-abre-consulta-publica-sobre-abertura-de-bases-de-dados
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