Federal Senate Bill of Law No. 21, of 2020

• Authority: Other authorities
• Collections: Miscellaneous documents
• Most recent activity: Proposed
• Most recent activity date: 2021-09-30

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
• Compromise of privacy
• Governance failure
• Lack of transparency or interpretability

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Unequal performance across groups
• AI system security vulnerabilities
• False or misleading information
• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use
• Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
• Overreliance and unsafe use
• Loss of human agency and autonomy
• Increased inequality and decline in employment
• Economic and cultural devaluation of human effort
• Competitive dynamics
• Environmental harm
• AI pursuing its own goals
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal to good coverage of approximately 8-10 subdomains, with strongest focus on discrimination and bias (1.1, 1.3), privacy protection (2.1), misinformation risks (3.1), governance structures (6.5), and system robustness (7.3, 7.4). Coverage is concentrated in fairness, transparency, and governance domains, with limited attention to malicious actor risks or advanced AI safety concerns.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Information
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Educational Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Finance & Insurance
• Real Estate, Rental & Leasing
• Professional & Technical Services
• Management, Administrative & Support Services
• Health Care & Social Assistance
• Arts, Entertainment & Recreation
• Accommodation, Food & Other Services
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This is a horizontal framework law that applies across all economic sectors in Brazil. The document explicitly adopts a cross-sectoral approach with sectoral bodies responsible for implementation in their respective domains. While it mentions specific applications in education and public services, the law governs AI development and deployment across all industries operating in Brazil.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative instrument enacted by the Brazilian National Congress with mandatory language throughout, establishing legal obligations, enforcement mechanisms through sectoral bodies, and explicit liability provisions for non-compliance.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The document is a Federal Senate Bill enacted by the National Congress, as indicated by the header and signature. It was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on September 30, 2021.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Deployer, AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The law applies broadly to all agents involved in AI development and operation in Brazil, including both private and public sector entities. It explicitly mentions agents in the development and operation chain, legal entities providing public services, and sectoral bodies with regulatory competence.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The law establishes a distributed enforcement model where sectoral regulatory bodies with technical expertise are responsible for monitoring risk management, establishing rights and duties, and recognizing self-regulatory institutions. The Federal Executive Branch is responsible for regulations and strategic management.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The same sectoral bodies responsible for enforcement are explicitly tasked with monitoring risk management of AI systems in their areas of competence. The federal government is responsible for promoting strategic management and monitoring in the public sector.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document addresses multiple AI lifecycle stages with emphasis on deployment and operational monitoring. It covers planning through principles and foundations, data processing through privacy requirements, model development through security and bias mitigation requirements, validation through risk assessment requirements, deployment through transparency obligations, and operation through continuous monitoring and risk management provisions.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Models
• AI Systems

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly defines and covers AI systems broadly, including machine learning, knowledge-based systems, and statistical approaches. It does not specifically mention frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, or compute thresholds. The focus is on AI systems generally without distinguishing between generative, predictive, task-specific, or open-weight models.