Brazil's Finance and Development ministries denied a renowned consumer watchdog access to a draft of Brazil's new data centers policies, just days after sharing detailed plans with major technology companies, widening the gap between Big Tech access to information within the government and public transparency.
On Wednesday (May 7), the watchdog, Idec, one of Brazil's main civil society consumer watchdogs, sent a formal request to access the document, warning about the lack of transparency in a regulatory process with direct impact on personal data and digital infrastructure in the country.
This week, during an official mission to California that started on May 5, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad discussed the data center plan with dozens of American companies, including Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
NOT READY YET. In response to the official request on the evening of May 8, the Ministry of Development claimed that the draft is preparatory in nature and can only be disclosed after an official act by the government — a response that was considered unsatisfactory by Idec.
As legal basis for confidentiality, the ministry said that "access to a preparatory document or information contained therein, used as a basis for decision-making or administrative act, will be ensured from the issuance of the act or decision."
In response, Idec stated that while this justification has been previously used to withhold documents from civil society, "this case is particularly egregious, as the material was shared with foreign corporate executives while being denied to the Brazilian public."
For the institute, the denial violates the principle of publicity and contradicts Brazil's freedom of information legislation.
Núcleo reached out to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Development, but has not yet received a response.
The Brazilian government projects investments of up to R$2 trillion ($354 billion) in data centers over the next 10 years, supported by financial incentives and tax benefits for foreign companies.
