WHATSAPP AND THE DISCLOSURE OF PRIVATE MESSAGES: AN ANALYSIS OF SPECIAL APPEAL NO. 1,903,273

Abstract

This scientific article aims to analyze Special Appeal No. 1.903.273/PR (2020/0284879-7), decided by the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice in 2021, which examined the unauthorized disclosure of private messages exchanged through the WhatsApp application. It seeks to understand the grounds adopted by the Court for the protection of private messages and their relationship with personality rights, particularly the rights to privacy, private life, and honor, as well as with the principle of human dignity and the provisions of the Brazilian Civil Code of 2002. To this end, the deductive method was adopted, based on bibliographical, doctrinal, and jurisprudential research, with an analysis of the aforementioned precedent of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice. The analysis demonstrates that the legal protection afforded to private messages is not limited to their content, but also encompasses the sphere of privacy and the personality rights of the interlocutors. It was also found that the unilateral disclosure of private conversations without the interlocutor's consent may give rise to civil liability when it exceeds the legally protected boundaries of freedom of expression and communication. Thus, the precedent under analysis highlights the need to reconcile freedom of expression and communication with the protection of privacy, private life, honor, and human dignity.