STF upheld the validity of Article 17-B of the Money Laundering Law, allowing authorities to request identification data of individuals under investigation without the need for judicial authorization
The Supreme Federal Court (STF), in a plenary judgment of the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality 4906/DF, issued a decision on September 11 declaring the constitutionality of Article 17-B of Law 9.613/1998 (Money Laundering Law). The legal provision, introduced by the reform of Law 12.683/2012, allows the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Police Authority to access the identity, parentage, and address of individuals under investigation, without the need for judicial authorization.
These records, maintained by the Electoral Court, can be directly requested from telephone companies, financial institutions, internet providers, and credit card administrators.
The lawsuit was filed by the Brazilian Association of Fixed Switched Telephone Service Providers (Abrafix), arguing that the legal provision of Article 17-B of the Money Laundering Law violated the rights to privacy and intimacy established in Article 5, items X and LXXIX of the Federal Constitution.
Abrafix further argued that the article violated the General Telecommunications Law, which provides for the right of users to have their privacy respected in the use of their personal data, as well as Law 10.073/2003, which stipulates "the relationship between the confidentiality of users' data and the need for judicial authorization for their provision."
The STF's majority position was based on the vote of the rapporteur, Justice Nunes Marques, who, along with Justices Alexandre de Moraes, Cármen Lúcia, Luís Roberto Barros, and Luiz Fux, voted for the constitutionality of Article 17-B. Additionally, Justice Gilmar Mendes suggested limiting the scope, allowing the Public Prosecutor's Office and Police Authority to request only personal identification, parentage, and address information without judicial authorization.
As a result, the following thesis was established: "[It is] constitutional for a law to allow police authorities and the Public Prosecutor's Office to access the personal data of individuals under investigation without judicial authorization, excluding the possibility of requesting any other personal data beyond identity, parentage, and address."
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