RIGHT TO PRIVACY: CONSIDERATIONS IN THE ERA OF SOCIAL MEDIA UNDER THE EGIS OF THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION LAW

Abstract

Understanding privacy as a constitutional right, supported by various national and international legal provisions, as well as conventions that consider it an inalienable human right, it is clear that this right has never been at greater risk than in a scenario of profound expansion of social networks, technological services, and increasingly advanced data collection and manipulation tools. In this sense, the risk can be attributed to the power of large corporations to use data for commercial purposes with third parties, as well as to manipulate intentions, behavioral patterns, and even curtail other basic rights of individuals by violating their privacy, intimacy, and image. However, considering the inevitable advancement of technology and its countless applications in contemporary society, the General Data Protection Law (LGPD) emerges as a tool for protecting rights already enshrined in the Constitution, providing an additional safeguard that reaffirms that Constitutional Law must be updated in accordance with contemporary demands. It primarily regulates the activities of organizations that handle user data, granting the maximum possible control to data subjects. In this sense, this work uses a qualitative literature review, analyzing legislation and materials from authors who comment on the issue, with the overall objective of understanding the correlation between the right to privacy and the potential risks that the LGPD aims to mitigate in relation to this right in a scenario of profound technological evolution. The main results point to technology as a potential risk to user privacy, but, due to its numerous functions, it is a necessary risk that can be mitigated through transparency and regulation in strategies such as the LGPD.