Brazil · Compliance
Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) compliance in Brazil
Achieve Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) compliance with Sterling: 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries, 20+ years.
- Compliance, end to end
- New York office team
- Effivity software included
- Academy training included
Who asks for Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) in Brazil
Clients include
Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) compliance in Brazil at a glance
Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais (Law No. 13,709 of 14 August 2018) requires Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) for the organisations it covers. Most Brazilian buyers ask for it anyway.
Brazil's data protection law reaches farther than many foreign companies expect. The Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados applies to processing carried out in Brazil, to processing aimed at people located in Brazil and to data collected there, whatever the seat of the company. It sets legal bases, data subject rights, an encarregado, security duties, incident notification and conditions for transfers abroad, and the Agência Nacional de Proteção de Dados supervises it. Planalto's current text describes the authority as a special-nature autarchy linked to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. There is no LGPD certificate, so compliance is shown through records, procedures and working controls. Sterling's New York office supports gap assessment, records of processing, notices, rights and incident procedures, with Effivity and Sterling Academy included with the engagement.
Who needs Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) in Brazil, and what happens without it
These are the organisations in Brazil that most often need to show Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD).
- Companies established in Brazil that handle customer or employee dataThe Law applies to any processing carried out in Brazil, by public and private entities alike.
- Foreign companies selling to people in BrazilThe Law reaches processing aimed at offering goods or services to people located in Brazil, wherever the company is seated.
- Processors such as cloud, payroll and BPO providersA processor must follow the controller's instructions, and controllers must check that it does.
- Health, education and fintech providers handling sensitive data or children's dataThe Law sets stricter treatment for sensitive data and requires children's data to be handled in their best interest.
- Technology services likely to be accessed by children and adolescentsThe Digital Statute of the Child and Adolescent applies to such services whatever their location.
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Take the free readiness checkBrazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) requirements in Brazil
Strip away the vocabulary and Brazil's LGPD asks a business to comply in six areas of personal data handling.
In Brazil these six sit alongside the local laws and regulations listed under drivers below; one system can evidence both. The detail is on the global hub: Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) explained →
How to achieve Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) compliance in Brazil
One team from the New York office carries the work from scoping to sign-off. Clients across Brazil are served from Sterling's New York office, on-site where the work needs it and remotely otherwise.
- Discovery call and scopeEntities, locations, regulators and target date, agreed before any proposal.
- Gap assessment against Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) and the Brazilian requirements that apply to youControls you already run for your regulators and customers are reused, not rebuilt.
- Your system built with your team in EffivityRisks, controls, evidence, incidents and reviews in one live system the auditor can see.
- Internal audit, management review and corrective actionsYour internal auditors trained by Sterling; the evidence proven before any external review.
- Reviews by regulators, customers and auditorsSterling supports the reviews your regulators, customers and auditors run.
- End to end, from one team
- Effivity ISO & GRC software
- Preferential Sterling Academy access, with complimentary awareness training for your people
- Internal auditor training for your audit team, as applicable to your standard
- Vulnerability assessment on ISMS engagements
The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements.Sterling does not certify. Certification decisions stay with independent bodies.
How long does Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) compliance take in Brazil?
There is no standard duration: it depends on your scope and on how much of the system already runs. In Brazil these are the factors that set the timeline.
- Number of systems, processors and data flows in scope
- Maturity of records of processing and legal-basis decisions
- Time needed to design rights and incident procedures
- Availability of the business owners who must approve notices
Sterling agrees a dated plan with you on the discovery call, once the scope is known.
How much does Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) compliance cost in Brazil?
The cost has two parts: the consulting work to build and prove the system, and any external assessor’s fees, which are quoted separately. In Brazil these factors move both.
- Volume and sensitivity of the personal data held
- Number of vendors and international transfers to review
- Privacy tooling for consent, requests and records
- Legal advice, which sits outside Sterling's work
Sterling gives one customised, all-inclusive proposal after the discovery call, never before the scope is agreed.
Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) consultants and assessors in Brazil
Two different organisations are involved. A consultant helps you build the system and prove it works; your regulators, customers and auditors then audits or assesses it and decides. Keeping the two separate is what makes the result credible to buyers and regulators.
- Check that the body’s accreditation or approval covers Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) and your sector, and that its certificates can be verified online.
- Ask the consultant how the local requirements in Brazil are mapped into the same system, so nothing runs twice.
- Ask for client references in your sector; Sterling’s client letters are available on request.
- Agree who owns the evidence and the tool after the engagement; with Sterling the system stays yours, in Effivity.
Laws and regulations that drive Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) in Brazil (3)
| Instrument | How it treats the standard |
|---|---|
| Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais (Law No. 13,709 of 14 August 2018) | Requires Law No. 13,709 of 2018 sets principles, legal bases, data subject rights, an encarregado, security measures, incident notification and rules for international transfers. |
| Agência Nacional de Proteção de Dados (ANPD) — status and regulations | Regulator Planalto's text describes it as a special-nature autarchy linked to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, and it publishes regulations such as Resolução CD/ANPD nº 15 of 2024 on incident communication. |
| Estatuto Digital da Criança e do Adolescente (Law No. 15,211 of 2025) | Related Applies to information technology products and services directed at or likely to be accessed by children and adolescents in Brazil. |
Accreditation, audit language and remote audits in Brazil
The LGPD is a law, not a certification scheme. Compliance evidence consists of your records of processing, legal-basis decisions, privacy notices, rights procedures, security measures, incident process and the encarregado's role, which the ANPD can examine. The Law mentions seals, certificates and codes of conduct as one possible safeguard for international transfers, but no ISO certificate demonstrates compliance with it. Neither Sterling nor a certification body can certify LGPD compliance. Edition and transition details: Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) hub →
Audit language
Portuguese is the usual language of regulators, contracts and audit records, while English is common inside multinationals; agree the audit language, any interpreter and the language of controlled documents with the certification body at application.
Remote and on-site
Programme work is mostly remote and document-based, with visits to operations floors, contact centres and data rooms where personal data is handled.
Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) in Brazil: questions clients ask
Does the LGPD apply to a foreign company with no Brazilian entity?
It can. The Law applies whatever the country of the company's seat when the processing aims to offer goods or services to people located in Brazil, or to process their data, and also when data was collected in Brazil. A website selling to Brazilian users is a typical trigger. Confirm your position with counsel or the ANPD.
Who must appoint an encarregado under the LGPD?
The Law says the controller shall indicate an encarregado, publish the person's identity and contact details clearly, preferably on its website, and use the role to take complaints from data subjects and communications from the authority. Check the ANPD's current regulations for any exemptions or detail, and decide whether a processor needs its own contact point.
Must an incident be reported to the ANPD?
If an incident may cause relevant risk or damage to data subjects, the controller must tell both the ANPD and the people affected, and Resolução CD/ANPD nº 15 of 2024 sets out how. The ANPD says voluntary notification is taken into account in its supervision. Build a triage procedure beforehand, and take legal advice on timing.
Is there an LGPD certificate?
No. Nothing in the Law creates a certificate showing compliance, and an ISO certificate does not stand in for it. The LGPD mentions seals, certificates and codes of conduct among safeguards for transfers abroad. Compliance means being able to show, if the ANPD asks, that your processing follows the Law's principles and that your measures work.
More on Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) for Brazilian organisations
Other standards Brazilian businesses ask Sterling for
Organisations in Brazil often combine Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) with one of these, under one management system where the scopes allow.
Start with a free discovery call from the New York office
A Sterling consultant goes through your entities, your regulators and your target date with you. No proposal until the scope is agreed.
Sources
- Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais (Law No. 13,709 of 14 August 2018) — planalto.gov.br; gov.br (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- Agência Nacional de Proteção de Dados (ANPD) — status and regulations — planalto.gov.br; gov.br (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- Estatuto Digital da Criança e do Adolescente (Law No. 15,211 of 2025) — planalto.gov.br (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
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