Is Web Scraping legal in Brazil? Compliance and LGPD Guide 2026

The most common question for anyone seeking data automation is: "Can I do this legally?". In Brazil, the answer is positive, but it requires a clear understanding of the LGPD (General Data Protection Law), Copyrights, and Terms of Use.

The Myth of Illegality

Many people confuse Web Scraping with system invasion (hacking). Scraping is the collection of data that is already public and accessible to anyone via a browser. If the data is visible without the need to break a security barrier, collecting it in an automated way is not a cybercrime in itself.

Web Scraping and the LGPD

The General Data Protection Law is the main guideline. However, it is essential to distinguish between:

✅ Public Data: Product prices, company addresses (CNPJ), catalogs, technical reviews, and news. Scraping this data is widely permitted.
⚠️ Personal Data: Social security numbers (CPFs), private phones, and personal emails. Collecting this data requires a Legal Basis (such as Legitimate Interest or Consent) and a specific purpose.

The Doctrine of "Manifestly Public Data"

Article 7, Paragraph 4 of the LGPD states that the processing of data made manifestly public by the data subject waives the need for consent, but still requires compliance with the principles of the law (such as good faith and purpose).

For companies, this means that extracting information from LinkedIn or a Transparency Portal is legal, provided that the use of this information does not infringe upon the rights of the data subject.

⚖️ Ethical Compliance Checklist

✅ Do not overload the target server (Rate Limiting).
✅ Focus on commercially useful, non-sensitive data.
✅ Respect robots.txt whenever possible.
✅ Do not bypass login systems to access private data.

Jurisprudence and Real Cases

In Brazil and abroad (such as the hiQ vs LinkedIn case), the majority understanding is that public data belongs to the public, not to the platform that hosts it. Preventing the scraping of public data would create an information monopoly.

However, a website's Terms of Use may attempt to prohibit automation. While violating a term of use rarely results in a criminal lawsuit, it can lead to the technical blocking of the collector's IP. That is why partnerships with specialists like DataShift ensure that collection is done in a way that does not violate contracts and maintains the longevity of access.

To understand how to apply these rules in a real large-scale project, see our Strategic Guide to Web Scraping.