Even before the crisis caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, there was already rumors of the possibility of postponing the entry into force of the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (“LGPD”), under the argument that companies and the government would not be prepared for the obligations imposed by the law, by August 2020.

Following this trend, the Draft Bill No 1.179/2020, presented by the congressman Antonio Anastasia, which proposes transitional and emergency rules for the regulation of private law legal relationships, during the coronavirus pandemic period, intends, among other aspects, to postpone the entry into force of the LGPD.

The Draft Bill stipulates that the special regime shall have retroactive effects, starting from the date of the Legislative Decree No. 6/2020 that instituted the State of Emergency in the country, that is, from March 20, 2020. Therefore, if approved, the entry into force of the LGPD would be postponed for another 18 months period, counting from such date, and would come into force in February 2022.

The Congressman argued that due to Covid-19 pandemic, the companies would struggle with a series of technical and economic difficulties, which may cause delay in the implementation of the adequacy measures. The draft bill, therefore, aims to flexibilize the date of implementation of the LGPD in order to not burden companies in such a delicate period, considering the costs involved in LGPD adaptation projects.

The draft bill was presented early this week and seems to have a broad support from to the National Congress. It has great chances of being voted and approved in the coming weeks. The approval of the draft bill, which also includes other matters of private law, will certainly impact not only the data protection perspective in Brazil, but also the different sectors of Private Law in the country.