This book examines how Brazil's LGPD and comparative regimes manage the clash between transparency and secrecy in the personal data economy. It shows how trade secrets are routinely invoked to expand algorithmic opacity, limiting explainability to data subjects and regulators (ANPD). Beginning with today's obstacles to data protection and transparency, the book maps the legal and technical frictions that undermine accountability, DPIA practice, data portability, and securityincident notification.

Brazil is one of the world's most connected markets, with 183 million internet users (86.2% penetration), 144 million socialmedia user identities (67.8% of the population), and 217 million mobile connections (102% of population) at the start of 2025. These scale effects make Brazil a bellwether for platform governance and datarights enforcement. Brazilians also rank among the top global users by time online ( 9h09 per day) and lead global time spent on social media ( 3h49 per day)a usage profile that amplifies the societal impact of automated decisionmaking and content curation. On the access side, 93.6% of households had Internet in 2024, underscoring mass exposure to datadriven services. In payments, Pix has made Brazil a world leader in realtime payments (second globally with 37.4billion instant transactions in 2023), while Open Finance already counts 57.5million consenting usersboth ecosystems hinge on lawful data sharing and explainability.

Against this backdrop, the book argues that the legal framing of core assetsdatabases, personal data, and algorithmsis a strategic (not neutral) choice: controllers often classify them as trade secrets to restrict scrutiny of automated decisionmaking (e.g., credit scoring) and publicsector AI, producing a legal black box that distances both individuals and authorities from meaningful oversight. To counter this, the book proposes an interpretation of the LGPD that recalibrates the scope of confidentiality, sets sectorspecific disclosure baselines for ADM, and defines proportional safeguards for when authorities may access protected information. By prioritizing the fundamental right to data protection, it offers concrete pathways to balance intellectualproperty interests with algorithmic transparency, preventing secrecy from creating new barriers to rights, regulation, and democratic accountability.

Builds a clear LGPD doctrine on trade secrets and algorithmic transparency Offers practical frameworks to balance algorithm secrecy and transparency in personal data use under LGPD Examines trade secret law to define confidentiality rights and explainability in Brazil's data markets

Autorentext

Maria Cristine Branco Lindoso is a Professor of Law at IDP Law School (Brasília), teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She holds a PhD in Law (University of Brasília, 2024), an LL.M. (2019), and an LL.B. (2017), all from the University of Brasília (UnB).

Her research and teaching focus on data protection (LGPD), trade secrets, algorithmic transparency/opacity, explainability in automated decisionmaking, and civil/civilprocedure law. She has served on undergraduate and master's examination boards, supervised research projects, and participated in conferences on AI, gender, electoral law, and data protection.

Maria is the author of peerreviewed articles on transparency, data protection, trade secrets, and privacy by design, and her current project advances a global doctrine on trade secrets in the personal data market, reassessing the lawful scope of secrecy against transparency, explainability, and accountability duties.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The Personal Data Market And Its Main Elements.- 3. Trade Secrets In The Context Of Data Processing.- 4. The Opacity Created By Data Processors And The Additional Challenge In Ensuring The Protection Of Personal Data.- 5. Possibilities For Reconciling The Protection Of Trade Secrets With The Protection Of Personal Data.- 6. Conclusion.