*By Marcos Vinícius Delgado
Last year marked 10 years since the implementation of one of the main institutional transparency milestones in Brazil. Although article 5 of the 1988 Constitution ensures transparency as a fundamental right, it was the Access to Information Law, known as LAI, that meant a significant transformation in the way the State began to deal with public information, as it motivated regulation and the adaptation of the government structure to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to ensure the promotion of transparency. One of LAI's major contributions was the mandatory provision of active access to information, through electronic portals as well as the creation of the Citizen Information Service (SIC), both in physical and digital form.
Although Brazil has advanced in institutionality and in the implementation of policies aimed at digitizing access to information, this has not directly signified the quality of transparency, as demonstrated by the publications of several studies in the area.[1] which, to a large extent, pointed to political interests and the culture of secrecy as the main villains in favor of opacity in data on public policies.
In the previous government, the measures to dismantle transparency policies, evidenced by the numerous attacks on the rights of access to information – such as the Secrecy Decree (9690/2019), the blackout of data on deaths due to Covid-19, the high rates rejection of access to information (increase of 663,08%) and the Secret Budget – revealed the existence of an authoritarian political project in which the invisible power of the State, sometimes translated by secrecy, as in times of military dictatorship, is the rule, and transparency and access to information are the exception.
If in the Federal Government, where the technological structure of access to data and information is more sophisticated, secrecy is present, this scenario becomes worse when it comes to other government powers and spheres, which have little or secondary investment and interests in making government information objective, transparent, clear and in easy-to-understand language. Data from recent studies[2] on the performance of active transparency of portals of bodies of the Judiciary, Legislature, states and municipalities are able to state that the increase in visibility and publicity of information has not necessarily implied more transparency. One of the points listed in these research concerns the degree of what is called inferability which concerns the user's ability to infer from the information available on electronic portals. Research therefore shows that agencies, even when they make information available in real time, in full and in an up-to-date manner, lack quality and precision, obscuring important analyzes that could be interpreted by public managers, journalists, researchers and the population. general information about what is published.
In this sense, I therefore bring special attention to municipalities in which the lack of budget for technological infrastructure, associated with the culture of secrecy still present in territories with smaller demographics, highlight the main challenges in strengthening transparency in Brazil. The low level of LAI institutionality in municipal administrations is capable of reinforcing this situation, given that, according to the General Comptroller of the Union, 86% of Brazilian municipalities have not yet regulated the LAI at local level. These challenges, linked to the recurrent misuse of the General Data Protection Law (LGPD), recently in force, generate significant consequences in the public policy cycle, especially with regard to the formation of the public agenda and the evaluation of projects and services. linked to them.
A consequence of this scenario, from the point of view of legality control, is the greater openness to practices of corruption and administrative improbity, since the obscurity of crucial information for monitoring the management of public resources makes it difficult to identify and prevent illegal acts. by control bodies and civil society. Furthermore, the opacity in the active provision of information and the secrecy given to its access through transparency
passive impact directly on the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of public policies, which in effect, harms the efficient and effective allocation of public resources to priority areas, thus affecting social well-being.
On the other hand, however, we have seen some municipalities that have taken paths towards a more digital Brazil and less unequal access to public information. We can cite the example of Niterói/RJ, which democratized access to data on participation in the multi-annual plan, the case of Volta Redonda/RJ, which made it easy to visualize youth socioeconomic and employment data or the Porto Alegre/RS, which developed a digital Statistical Yearbook, a vital instrument for accountability that is capable of contributing to institutional transparency and acting as an effective tool in controlling public decisions. These municipalities, adopting Business Intelligence, are revolutionizing data visualization, transforming complex information into accessible and understandable formats. Such an approach not only strengthens transparency and civic engagement, but also serves as a beacon of technological innovation and efficiency in public management, pointing to a future in which transparency will not just be an unfulfilled promise of democracy – in reference to Norberto Bobbio[1] – but a concrete and beneficial reality for everyone.
Marcos Vinícius Delgado is a THINK TANK ABES Researcher – IEA/USP and a PhD candidate in Public Policies, Strategies and Development at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – PPED/UFRJ. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Association.
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
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[1] ALVES, MSD From secrecy to access: topical analysis of culture change. Magazine of the Court of Auditors of the State of Minas Gerais, n. Transparency and Social Control, p. 120–134, 2011.
SILVEIRA, PAD; SILVA, RL da. The implementation of the Access to Public Information Law in Brazil and the culture of secrecy: analysis of Federal Executive Branch portals. UFPR Law Faculty Magazine, v. 65, n. 3, p. 85, 2021.
TINOCO, Erika Cruz da Silva. Between secrecy and transparency: decisions on appeals submitted to the Joint Information Reassessment Commission (2012-2018). 2021. 157 f., ill. Dissertation (Master’s in Information Science) — University of Brasília, Brasília. 2021.
[2] CASTANHO, V. Transparency and the challenges of public websites in the information society. RIL Brasília, v. 56, no. 222, p. 265–285, 2019.
LUNKES, RJ et al. Transparency in the municipal public sector: an analysis of electronic portals in Brazilian capitals based on a decision support instrument. CGU Magazine, v. 7, no. 10, p. 88–108, 2015.
RAUPP, FM; PINE, JAG de. Accountability in municipal councils: an investigation into electronic portals. Administration Magazine, v. 48, n. 4, p. 770–782, 2013.
[3] BOBBIO, Norberto. The future of democracy (a defense of the rules of the game). Trans. Marco Aurélio Nogueira. Rio de Janeiro, Paz e Terra, 1986. 171 p.
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