CIVIL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE GENERAL PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION LAW AND THE HAND RULE

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12662/2447-6641oj.v20i34.p60-84.2022

Keywords:

personal data processing, LGPD, negligence, rule of Hand

Abstract

Objective: This article proposes to investigate the issue of civil liability for damages arising from the processing of personal data, under the terms and limits in which it is regulated by Federal Law No. 13.709, of August 14, 2018, known as the General Law of Personal Data Protection (LGPD). The central question to be answered, as it is not clearly defined by the infra-constitutional legislator, says with the type of civil liability provided for in the LGPD, whether objective or subjective. It is intended to analyze, in addition, whether Hand's rule, formulated by the American magistrate Learned Hand, can be useful to delimit the responsibility for negligence of agents processing personal data.

Methodology: The research method used will be qualitative-deductive, with a view to confirming the hypotheses raised for the resolution of the exposed problem. For this purpose, the concepts of objective and subjective civil liability will be established, as well as the central aspects of the special legislation related to that liability, notably with regard to agents for processing personal data, will be analyzed. Since the legislator has not clarified the nature of civil liability regulated by the LGPD, it will be investigated whether the processing of personal data can be included in the list of risky activities, attracting the incidence of art. 927, sole paragraph, of the Brazilian Civil Code.

Results: A relationship was found between civil liability provided for in the law protecting personal data and Hand's rule, suggesting that the understanding of the American judge Learned Hand can be useful for the delimitation of civil liability arising from the processing of personal data. It was also evidenced that the processing of personal data is a multiple activity, not always capable of being included in the area of risky activities.

Contributions: Use of the Hand rule as a useful criterion to assess the civil liability of personal data processing agents in cases of negligence liability.

Author Biographies

Rômulo Marcel Souto dos Santos, Centro Universitário 7 de setembro, UNI7.

advogado e sócio-diretor do Menescal & Marcel Advogados Associados S/S, escritório com quase duas décadas de serviços prestados a alguns dos maiores grupos empresariais do Brasil. Bacharel em direito pela Universidade Federal do Ceará (Faculdade de Direito), é pós-graduado (lato sensu) em Direito Processual Civil, Master in Law (LL.M) em Direito Corporativo, e Master of Business Administration (MBA) em Planejamento Tributário Estratégico. Ex-secretário-geral da Comissão de Estudos Constitucionais e ex-membro da Comissão de Estudos Tributários da Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil, Secção Ceará (OAB-CE). Consultor em gestão do contencioso de volume. Professor de cursos jurídicos e de pós-graduações de reconhecidas instituições de ensino brasileiras. Palestrante. Autor da obra Fundamentos Jurídicos da Proteção de Dados Pessoais e da Privacidade, publicada, em 2020, pela prestigiada editora Lumen Juris.

André Studart Leitão, Unichristus / FBUni

Mestre e Doutor em Direito (PUC-SP). Pós-doutor em Direito (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie e Universidade de Fortaleza). Pós-doutorando em Direito pelo Mediterranea International Centre for Human Rights Research. Professor no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito da Unichristus. Professor no curso de graduação em Direito da FBUni. Procurador Federal.

Erik Navarro Wolkart, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, FGV.

Possui graduação em Direito pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (1999), mestrado em Direito pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (2011) e doutorado em direito pela Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (2018), com período sanduíche na Harvard Law School (2016-2017). Foi, ainda, Visiting Scholar na Columbia Law School (2016). Atualmente é juiz federal - Justiça Federal de Primeira Instancia no Rio de Janeiro, Vice-Presidente da Associação Brasileira de Direito e Economia (ABDE), Diretor fundador da The Future Society (Brazilian Chapter), professor do Curso Enfase Instituto Juridico, membro do Instituto Brasileiro de Direito Processual, professor e palestrante palestrante da Escola de Magistratura Federal e de diversas outras instituições.

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Published

2022-03-17

How to Cite

SANTOS, Rômulo Marcel Souto dos; LEITÃO, André Studart; WOLKART, Erik Navarro. CIVIL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE GENERAL PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION LAW AND THE HAND RULE. Revista Opinião Jurídica (Fortaleza), Fortaleza, v. 20, n. 34, p. 60–84, 2022. DOI: 10.12662/2447-6641oj.v20i34.p60-84.2022. Disponível em: https://periodicos.unichristus.edu.br/opiniaojuridica/article/view/4179. Acesso em: 30 may. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 34 (2022)

Section

Artigos Originais

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