In May 2017, InternetLab held the First International Conference on Fundamental Rights and Criminal Procedure in the Digital Age, with institutional support from the University of São Paulo Law School. The conference promoted debate on the guarantee of effective criminal proceedings and the protection of constitutional rights to privacy and secrecy of communications in the face of new technologies, bringing together national and international experts in the field.

The lectures, sessions and roundtables discussed topics such as the interpretation of the rights to secrecy of communications and privacy, the search and seizure of electronic devices, the challenges related to international legal cooperation for access to digital evidence, encryption, among others. The videos of all the panels can be watched here.

The second edition of the event was held in August 2018. The II International Congress on Fundamental Rights and Criminal Procedure in the Digital Age featured debates focused mainly on the investigative capacities and strategies of criminal prosecution authorities, such as the police and prosecutors, in the face of new technologies that make it possible to access complete communications histories and data stored on devices. The full panel videos and a summary of the participants’ speeches can be found here.

The third edition of the event was held in August 2019. The 3rd International Congress on Fundamental Rights and Criminal Procedure in the Digital Age paid special attention to the use of mass surveillance technologies and the growing collection and use of biometric and genetic data in criminal justice and public security policies. The videos of the panels can be accessed here.

In August 2020, due to the pandemic, the fourth edition was held completely remotely for the first time. The IV International Congress on Fundamental Rights and Criminal Procedure in the Digital Age focused on the protection of personal data in the context of public security and criminal investigations, and addressed the challenges that legislators, professionals and researchers face in the face of the development and absorption of new technologies in the prevention, repression, processing of crimes, and in the very dynamics of criminal incidence. The videos of the panels can be found on InternetLab’s YouTube channel.

In August 2021, InternetLab held the fifth edition of the event remotely. The 5th International Congress on Fundamental Rights and Criminal Procedure in the Digital Age unraveled the controversies faced by the judiciary and legal operators in the face of the development and absorption of new technologies, such as personal and facial recognition. The edition also featured a new partnership with Finos Filmes, which made it possible to make a curated selection of short films on “Stories of Surveillance and Control” available on the Belas Artes platform. The videos of the panels will soon be available on our YouTube channel.

In August 2022, the sixth edition of the event resumed its face-to-face format. The 6th International Congress on Fundamental Rights and Criminal Procedure in the Digital Age dealt with the legal framework and current debates surrounding cybercrime. The Congress also marked the launch of the third edition of the book “Direito das investigações digitais no Brasil: Fundamentos e marcos normativos”. The videos of the panels can be found on InternetLab’s YouTube channel.

The most recent edition was held in August 2023. The theme of the 7th International Congress on Fundamental Rights and Criminal Procedure in the Digital Age was “Democracy and investigative capacities”, and covered topics such as platform regulation, the use of spyware tools, encryption and the use of digital evidence. Recordings of the panels will soon be available on InternetLab’s YouTube channel.

In addition to organizing and holding the congress itself, each year the project also launches a book with written versions of the speakers’ speeches, detailing the discussions that began at the previous congress and contributing to deepening and updating the legal doctrines that are intended to guide criminal procedural law operators in the digital age. Digital editions of the book can be found on the congress’s official website.