GENETIC DATA AND THE GENERAL REGULATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT.

Resumo

From the moment a collection of genetic material is performed, it is possible to obtain information about the person who had their genetic material collected, however, at that moment, the legal protection of these "sensitive" contents also begins so that they are not treated randomly. Recently in Brazil, with the The General Data Protection Act (LGPD), we see that the protection of genetic data is also included there, once according to Article 5, II: "sensitive personal data (are) personal data about racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade-union membership or religious organization, philosophical or political opinion and of data concerning health or sex life, genetic or biometric data, when linked to a natural person." In addition, we observed that the LGPD takes special care with genetic data and the fundamental right to privacy. We could observe a great concern of the LGPD with the leak of personal information of a person who has their genetic material in stock, so we frame this concern with the right to privacy which is a fundamental right that is provided for in the Federal Constitution in Article 5, X: “privacy, private life, honor and image of people are inviolable, the right to compensation for material or moral damages resulting from their violation.” Doctors, hospitals, clinics, laboratories, need their patients' data to provide efficient care. However, the responsibility that each one has in view of this data, besides being included in the LGPD, resides in other devices, such as the Brazilian Civil Code and Penal Code. As an example, we can cite article 154 of the Penal Code, which refers to the crime of breach of professional secrecy. As such, we indicate here in our reflection that it is extremely important that there are more and more devices that guarantee the storage of this data, with clear instructions without any room for possible interpretations, since it is not always the hospitals or clinics themselves that are responsible for the storage and management of this data, being common the interest/business of third-party companies when it comes to the management of this data, especially for this sensitive sector of clinical and genetic data whose regulation is now emerging. It should be explicit what these data are, how to store them in the correct way and for how long remains the role of regulatory bodies of each state in the supervision of this operation. Only in this way, in our opinion, will the State be able to guarantee its role and the security and privacy of its citizens and their "sensitive data".