CGU announces new rules to limit use

The General Comptroller of the Union (CGU) presented, this Monday (30), new measures to restrict the use of the so-called “100-year secrecy”, provided for in the Access to Information Law (LAI). This information protection measure was widely used during the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro, including in the case of the investigation into the former Minister of Health and General Eduardo Pazuello. The current administration, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also resorted to the mechanism in some situations, which generated criticism for the lack of transparency.

In response to concerns, the CGU minister, Vinicius Marques de Carvalho, announced two new statements that aim to reduce cases of information being blocked based on this prolonged secrecy. These statements guide the federal public administration on how to deal with requests for access to documents.

The first statement establishes that, in cases where public bodies do not indicate a clear period of protection for personal information, the maximum period of secrecy will be limited to 15 years. Currently, many access requests are automatically denied, with data being protected for up to 100 years.

The second statement provides that the CGU will monitor the application of the article 31 of the Access to Information Lawwhich specifically deals with the protection of personal information. The objective is to ensure that access restriction rules are applied appropriately and to avoid abuses in the justification of secrecy.

In addition to the new understandings, the CGU plans to send a proposal to change the Access to Information Law to Congress. The project aims to eliminate some limitations imposed by article 31, in order to make it clear that information of public interest cannot be classified as confidential based on the argument that it is of a personal nature. The CGU has already applied this understanding in the case of Eduardo Pazuello, determining that the Army release the documents from the inquiry that investigated his participation in a political act.

“100-year secrecy” in the Lula government

Last year alone, President Lula’s government denied more than 1,300 requests for information on a variety of topics, including the agenda of the first lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva, and the list of soldiers from the Presidential Guard Battalion who were on duty during the events on January 8, 2023.

In some of the denials, the CGU claimed that the requested information was “personal data”.

In practice, the answer means that the data is under confidentiality for 100 years, since article 31 of the LAI states that “personal information relating to intimacy, private life, honor and image will have its access restricted for a maximum period of 100 years from of its production date”.

In April this year, Lula kept the list of people who occupied 57 rooms at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House luxury hotel in London confidential for the next five years.

During the election campaign, Lula used the issue of secrecy to attack former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). “Anyone could know what was happening in our government. Now, not Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro said he has no corruption, but he decrees 100 years of secrecy for any accusations against him,” Lula said at the time.

Pazuello case

In May 2021, General Eduardo Pazuello, then Minister of Health, participated in a political event alongside President Jair Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro. The Army opened an inquiry to investigate the general’s conduct, since military regulations prohibit members of the Force from participating in political events without superior authorization. Pazuello was acquitted, but access to the investigation documents was blocked during the Bolsonaro government, on the grounds that it was personal information protected by 100 years of secrecy.

However, with the change of government, the CGU reviewed the case and decided that the information was of public interest, ordering the release of the documents during President Lula’s administration.