The São Paulo Public Defender’s Office detected several processes on the Jusbrasil and Escavador websites in which the identity of young people accused of committing infractions, identified in São Paulo Justice processes, is revealed. The illegal exposure of the teenagers was confirmed by the agency after receiving complaints. 
Even with the takedown of internet pages, the data may continue to be exposed, as it is also included in editions of the Electronic Justice Gazette, freely accessible to anyone.
According to the Specialized Center for Children and Youth (Neij), of the Public Defender’s Office, the information came from employees of the socio-educational measures system and family members of the teenagers involved. Mentioning the names of young people violates the article 247 of the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA), which prohibits the disclosure, without consent, of the name, act or document of police, administrative or judicial proceedings of children or adolescents who are responsible for criminal acts.
The section of the law highlights that this applies regardless of the means of communication. The expected penalty is a fine of 3 to 20 reference salaries, with double the amount applicable in case of repeat offense.
Citing the article, the Public Defender’s Office informed, in a note sent to the Brazil Agencywhich several internet pages were removed from the air, at Neij’s request, but considered that it is not possible to find all the processes that should be confidential.
The body also highlighted that an administrative procedure was opened to ensure that those who violated the law are held accountable, in the form of the ECA. Letters were sent to the Court of Justice of the State of São Paulo (TJSP), the Public Ministry and the National Council of Justice (CNJ).
The TJSP also stated in a note that there were no failures in its system and, therefore, there was no lack of protection of data from it. The origin of the problem, he added, is external. Some similar processes were found in the system by the report.
In the statement, the Court of Justice highlights that magistrates also detected the same irregularities on internet pages. Like the families who contacted Neij, the judges forwarded the material.
“Administrative procedures were initiated at the Presidency, with analysis conducted by the Information Technology Sector, in light of the news of possible undue exposure of data from adolescents linked to Childhood and Youth processes”, writes the TJSP.
“The conclusions obtained so far have been forwarded to the CNJ and the Public Defender’s Office, for the measures they deem appropriate. The TJSP clarifies that it cannot act ex officio to determine the removal of content eventually published by third parties, requiring judicial provocation by legitimate bodies or interested parties”, he adds.
Replicated data
Jusbrasil recognized the seriousness of the occurrences and the malfunction of its filtering and removal mechanisms for reproduced content. The website argues that what was replicated came from editions of the Electronic Justice Gazette and talks about shared responsibility.
It also states that it immediately reviewed internal prevention and proactive monitoring flows and carried out a scan to see if it would find other similar cases.
After classifying the incidents as “a relevant topic, which demands coordinated action and total transparency”, Jusbrasil highlighted the search for the Brazilian Association of Lawtechs and Legaltechs (AB2L), to which it is linked, to encourage a debate on good practices and governance mechanisms that ensure the safeguarding of sensitive data.
“We continue with monitoring to ensure that new cases are promptly handled. We have a service channel that operates 24 hours a day for requests for de-identification of information. In cases where the content originates from official diaries, the request for de-identification is handled immediately”, he stated in the message sent to the report.
When contacted by the report, Digger did not comment on the case until the closing of this article.
Infractions and rights
The ECA defines any conduct described as a crime or misdemeanor as an infraction. As they are not criminally liable, children and adolescents can only be penalized with a warning, provision of services to the community, assisted release or other forms of reparation and accountability appropriate to their age group, listed in the ECA.
One of the authorities in the field of defense of children and adolescents, lawyer Ariel de Castro Alves, is in favor of activating the Internal Affairs Division of the Court of Justice and determining the responsibility of the public servants responsible for updating the Electronic Justice Gazette, in addition to the figures who head the websites involved. According to him, employees can be the target of lawsuits that accuse administrative improbity.
Furthermore, families can go to court to request compensation for moral damages and both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office can file public civil actions, which may determine the imposition of fines and the suspension of publications.
“I consider it a scandal, which violates the rights to dignity, integrity, image and respect, exposing teenagers to exclusion, marginalization and stigmatization”, says Castro Alves,
He is a former president of the National Council (Conanda), member of the National Commission for the Rights of Children and Adolescents and Adolescents of the Federal Council of the OAB. and has already served as former national secretary in the same department. For the lawyer, it is essential to remember that sites like Jusbrasil and Escavador copy content previously published in official gazettes.
“The consequences [da exposição indevida] are the deepening of social, economic and educational exclusion, marginalization, difficulty in entering school and work, including for those young people who have been accused and proven their innocence”, he explains.
