The country’s Congress passed Internet-privacy legislation similar to an Internet user’s bill of rights. This move was taken after the United States had been revealed spying on Brazil’s President for basically no reason.

The law sets out principles, guarantees, rights, and duties for web users and ISPs and is supposed to balance freedom of expression and the Internet users’ rights to privacy and protection of personal information. The new bill, dubbed Brazil’s “Internet Constitution”, has been appreciated by the British physicist and Internet inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee for balancing the rights and duties of ordinary users, governments and businesses, at the same time ensuring that the worldwide web continues to be an open and decentralized network.

The law protects freedom of expression and information, demanding that Internet service providers not be hold responsible for what the users publish, but the ISPs still have to comply with court orders to take down offensive or libelous content. In addition, the law limits collecting and using metadata on Internet users in the country.

The most interesting fact is that the bill stopped short of what many in the United States feared – namely that tech giants such as Google and Facebook would have to store local users’ information in Brazilian data centers. However, the law says that such companies as Google and Facebook will be subject to local laws and courts in cases involving data on Brazilians, even if the information is stored on servers across the ocean.

Brazil’s President has spoken out forcefully against online snooping revealed by a former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The Unites States appeared to be eavesdropping after her staff’s communications and those of others at Petrobras, the state oil giant. President was so outraged with the snooping that she even cancelled a state visit to Washington and pushed for a UN resolution aimed at protecting “online” human rights. There were also suggestions to create its own Internet where the US wouldn’t have access. As fantastic as it sound, at least one country is doing something to protect its people.

What? Joke?

"There were also suggestions to create its own Internet where the US wouldn’t have access. As fantastic as it sound, at least one country is doing something to protect its people."

let's go then