In our last columns, we talk about and recommend how to start changing the current scenario of institutional opacity and regain public trust in the justice system.
We need, however, to cross the Praça dos Três Poderes and demand urgent improvements in the , because, in the wake of news involving the INSS and Banco Master fraud scandals, opacity and abuses in the secrecy of public information are not a problem exclusive to judges.
In the middle of last year, during the work of the CPMI (Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) which was investigating fraud involving retirees’ money, a letter was approved by parliamentarians to request the Federal Government’s entry data into the House building. However, to everyone’s surprise, the provision of the information was denied by , on the grounds that it would not be possible to promote an “indiscriminate investigation” of those who access the offices of the Legislative Branch.
Furthermore, the consultancy stated that it was necessary to protect the privacy of people who entered the public building, understanding that access to records should be restricted, based on the General Data Protection Law (LGPD).
Once again, with the stroke of a pen, privacy protection is used to strengthen illegitimate lobbying and vested interests. By definition, public spaces must have their own rules of use and access based on the principle that society has the right to know and learn about their functioning. The greater the public interest related to a given building or office, the more transparent and accessible its information must be and the more exceptional and well-founded any secrecy regarding it must be. Regarding these places, there can be no secrecy that is not temporary and limited.
Precisely for this reason, in the Federal Executive, the record of entry into public buildings is disclosed to any interested party, except in exceptional circumstances, such as in the Federal Police for the protection of witnesses. There is even a consolidated understanding on the subject, registered in the (CGU). This is the same understanding in force at , which provides this data to anyone upon simple request. These are advances obtained only through the constant demands of Ficam Sabendo, which regularly requests this data from all federal agencies.
The Palace of the National Congress, the space that houses the Brazilian Legislative Branch, Chamber and Senate, is a place whose transparency should be exemplary for the rest of the country. There, the rules that should organize our lives are discussed, analyzed and voted on. The people elected work there to monitor and supervise the actions of the President of the Republic. Precisely for this reason, the secrecy applicable to the National Congress is always exceptional and only in cases expressly provided for by the Constitution.
There is no “expectation of privacy” for anyone entering the “Casa do Povo” building. Defending something different is condoning patrimonialism and opacity. It is to defend and strengthen, across the board, practices such as the secret budget, which only serves to waste, divert and illicit appropriation of public money.
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