Processing done in Brazil
If the collection or use of the data happens in the national territory, the law applies.
Guide · Brazilian law
The General Data Protection Law applies to any site that processes data of people in Brazil, including cookies and identifiers used by ads. This guide shows what the law asks for, how the ANPD guides the use of cookies, what the sanctions are and what a publisher needs to have online.
What it is
The LGPD is Law No. 13,709, of August 14, 2018. It says when a company can collect, use, store and share personal data, and what rights people have over that data. It applies to companies, self-employed professionals and public bodies, in the physical world and online.
Personal data is any information linked to an identified or identifiable person. On a site, this includes the name and email from a form, but also the IP address, cookie identifiers and the browsing history used to show ads. Sensitive personal data is a more protected category: health, religion, racial origin, political opinion, sex life, genetic and biometric data.
The data subject is the person who owns the data. The controller decides what the data is used for, and is normally the site owner. The processor handles the data on behalf of the controller, like an email platform. The DPO (encarregado) is the person or company that acts as the bridge between the controller, the data subjects and the authority.
Enforcement is by the ANPD. Created as the Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados, it is now called the Agência Nacional de Proteção de Dados, with the same acronym. The ANPD publishes regulations and guides, receives complaints and applies the law's sanctions.
Checklist
What the LGPD, the ANPD and Google require of a site with ads that receives visitors from Brazil.
The law guarantees the data subject easy access to the purpose, form and duration of data use, who the controller is and how to contact them, sharing and the rights under article 18. Google also requires the policy to say that third parties, such as Google, use cookies to show ads.
We use our own and third-party cookies, including Google's, to show ads based on your visits to this and other sites.
The ANPD guide indicates consent for non-necessary cookies and recommends keeping them off by default. If you use Google tags, Consent Mode can start as denied for Brazil only and change when the person accepts.
gtag('consent', 'default', {
'ad_storage': 'denied',
'ad_user_data': 'denied',
'ad_personalization': 'denied',
'wait_for_update': 500,
'region': ['BR']
});The ANPD guide recommends an easy-to-see button to reject all non-necessary cookies. It advises against a banner with a single button and no option to manage.
Accept all | Reject non-necessary | Customize
The ANPD guide says it is not recommended to use a banner with authorization options already checked. Each purpose starts off until the person chooses.
The law says consent can be revoked at any time, through a free and simplified procedure. Leave a fixed link for the person to change their choice.
Link in the footer of every page: Cookie preferences
The identity and contact of the data protection officer must be disclosed clearly and objectively, preferably on the site. Small-scale agents exempt from appointing an officer must keep a channel with the data subject.
Data protection officer: Maria Silva. Contact: privacy@yoursite.com.br
Confirmation and access to the data can be given right away, in a simplified format, or in a full statement within 15 days of the request. Have a channel to receive these requests.
Children's data requires the consent of at least one parent or guardian. Sensitive data, such as health and religion, requires specific and prominent consent, and Google does not accept personalized ads based on them.
In practice
Official tools
Google does not require a certified CMP or have its own message for the LGPD, so choose a tool that follows the ANPD guide, and use a certified CMP only if the site also receives visitors from Europe.
Who it applies to
One is enough. It does not matter the size of the site or where the servers are.
If the collection or use of the data happens in the national territory, the law applies.
If the goal is to offer products or services to people who are in Brazil, or to process their data, the law applies even to foreign companies.
If the data was collected in the country, the LGPD applies to it, even if it is later processed abroad.
Blogs and small businesses follow the law. The ANPD has lighter rules for small-scale agents, but not a general exemption.
Legal bases
Article 7 lists 10 bases for processing personal data. For a content site with ads, these are the ones that come up day to day.
A free, informed and unambiguous expression for a specific purpose. It is the basis recommended by the ANPD for non-necessary cookies, such as advertising ones.
A real interest of the site, as long as it does not override the data subject's rights. It can serve for strictly necessary cookies and aggregate measurement, according to the ANPD.
Data needed to fulfill a contract with the person, such as a paid subscription or a purchase.
When a law requires keeping the data. The Marco Civil da Internet, for example, requires keeping application access logs for a period.
Used in credit analysis and positive credit records. Common on finance sites, rare on content sites.
Public policies, research, exercise of rights in proceedings, protection of life and health care complete the list in Article 7.
Cookies
In October 2022, the ANPD published the Guia Orientativo Cookies e Proteção de Dados Pessoais (Cookies and Personal Data Protection Guidance Guide). It separates cookies into necessary and non-necessary, first-party and third-party, session and persistent, and by purpose: analytics, functionality and advertising.
For strictly necessary cookies, such as those that keep the login or the cart, the guide says consent is not the most appropriate basis. Legitimate interest can be used, as long as the law's requirements are met. For non-necessary cookies, such as advertising ones and those that track a person's behavior, consent is the most appropriate basis.
The guide recommends a banner with an easy-to-see button to reject all non-necessary cookies, and advises against banners with only an accept button. It also does not recommend pre-selected options and advises leaving cookies that depend on consent turned off by default.
Finally, the guide asks for a Cookie Policy or equivalent document, which can be a section of the privacy notice or a separate page. For advertising, the guide states that legitimate interest will hardly be the most appropriate basis.
Data subject rights
Article 18 lists the data subject's rights. The site needs a channel to receive and answer these requests.
Know whether the site processes their data and see what it is.
Correct incomplete, wrong or outdated data.
Ask for unnecessary, excessive or unlawfully processed data to be anonymized, blocked or deleted.
Take the data to another service or product provider.
Know which companies and bodies the data was shared with, such as ad networks.
Withdraw consent at any time, free of charge and easily, and be informed about the possibility of not consenting.
What to do
Sanctions
The Article 52 sanctions have applied since August 1, 2021. The ANPD sets the amount in each case through its dosimetry regulation.
With a deadline for the site to adopt corrective measures.
Up to 2% of the revenue of the company, group or conglomerate in Brazil in the last fiscal year, excluding taxes, capped at R$50 million per infraction.
To force the correction of an irregularity, within the same total limit.
Making the infraction public after it is confirmed, which affects the site's reputation.
Blocking or deleting the personal data linked to the infraction.
Suspending the database or the processing activity, and even fully or partially prohibiting data processing.
Timeline
The dates that weigh most for those with a site in Brazil.
Law No. 13,709 is published with an adaptation period before taking effect.
The rules on legal bases, rights and obligations take effect.
The ANPD gains the power to apply warnings, fines and the other Article 52 sanctions.
The ANPD publishes the Guia Orientativo Cookies e Proteção de Dados Pessoais.
The ANPD approves the rules to calculate and apply administrative sanctions.
CD/ANPD Resolution No. 18 details the appointment and activities of the DPO.
The ANPD is turned into a regulatory agency and is now called the Agência Nacional de Proteção de Dados.
LGPD and GDPR
The LGPD was inspired by the GDPR, but there are differences that change the site's setup.
Applies to data processed in Brazil or of people in Brazil.
Applies to people in the EEA, and there are similar laws in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
In practice
Examples based on the LGPD and the ANPD cookie guide recommendations.
In ConsentMode
The LGPD does not mention banners. The ANPD guide recommends asking for consent for non-necessary cookies, such as advertising ones. If the site uses only necessary cookies, a consent banner is not required, but transparency in the policy still is.
No. Google's EU user consent policy applies to the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. For Brazil, Google's policies ask for a privacy policy that explains the use of cookies and data by ads.
The controller must appoint a DPO. The ANPD allows small-scale agents not to appoint one, as long as they keep a communication channel with the data subject. Check with your legal team whether your business qualifies.
The ANPD guide says that, for advertising, legitimate interest will hardly be the most appropriate basis. For advertising cookies, consent is the recommended basis.
To a large extent, yes, because the principles are similar. The care is to use regions: the European TCF message does not need to appear in Brazil, and the privacy policy must mention the LGPD and the Article 18 rights.
No. The audit shows what the site does, with screenshots, and indicates what is usually fixed. The legal decision is up to your lawyer or DPO.
Library
This guide was written from these official pages. Read them directly at the source:
The audit checks the banner, cookies, privacy policy and ads, and delivers a fix plan.