Data protection: Publication of the Portuguese Charter of Human Rights in the Digital Era

• The right of access to the digital environment, under which the State is responsible for promoting, among other things, the creation of a social tariff for access to Internet services applicable to economically vulnerable end customers and the definition and implementation of measures to combat the unlawful provision and dissemination of illegal content online and to defend intellectual property rights and the victims of crimes committed in cyberspace.
• The guarantee of access to and use of the Internet, being the intentional interruption of Internet access, whether partial or total, or the limitation of the dissemination of information or other content prohibited, except in cases provided for by law.
• The right to protection against disinformation, defined as any demonstrably false or misleading narrative created, presented and disseminated for obtaining an economic advantage or deliberately deceiving the public, and which is likely to cause public harm, namely a threat to democratic political processes, public policy-making processes and public assets.
• The right to privacy in a digital environment, being recognised that everyone has the right to communicate electronically using encryption and other forms of identity protection or that avoid the collection of personal data, namely to exercise civil and political liberties without censorship or discrimination.
• The use of artificial intelligence and robots, the use of the former having to be guided by respect for fundamental rights (ensuring a fair balance between the principles of explicability, security, transparency and accountability, which considers the circumstances of each specific case and establishes procedures to avoid any prejudice and forms of discrimination) and the creation and use of the latter having to be carried out in accordance with the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, respect for human autonomy and justice, as well as in accordance with the principles and values enshrined in article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, namely non-discrimination and tolerance. As to decisions with a significant impact on recipients that are taken using algorithms, they must be communicated to those concerned and must be susceptible to appeal and auditable under the terms of the law.
• The rights to Internet neutrality, cybersecurity, freedom of creation and content protection, protection against abusive geolocation and to a digital will (concerning the content and personal data of the holder, namely those contained in his personal profiles and accounts on digital platforms).
• The rights in digital platforms, being established that the State is responsible for promoting the use, by digital platforms, of graphic signs that clearly and simply transmit the privacy policy they provide to their users.
• The right to digital class action.

This law comes into force 60 days after its publication, and some aspects of it will be subject to specific legislation.