More information

“Once Only”

The “Once Only” principle establishes that any citizen, institution or company that wishes to access public services, enters sensitive data in the system only once.

When the data is provided by the user, public authorities cannot request it again, being obliged to obtain it from the system.

This procedure avoids the repetition of the transaction between citizens and the government, substantially reducing the burden on users to provide information and on providers that manages it. 

Thus, it is up to public agencies involved, when necessary, to share and reuse such data safely.

Data Sharing

Government agencies responsible for sharing data contained in their databases, or who requests access to such data, must take all necessary measures to ensure the privacy and protection of information. In addition to observing current legislation, especially the LGPD, they must adopt codes of conduct and ethical principles to ensure transparency regarding those who accesses the data, for what purpose, and under what conditions access may be allowed. 

Data sharing among government agencies must be allowed only in response to a specific public policy and based on an objective to be achieved. Thus, only the data necessary to achieve this objective is shared.

Transparency and Identification

When adopting the “once only” principle, and consequently making data sharing between public administration bodies an obligation, it is important to be transparent about the use of such data. 

The legitimacy and legality allowing the sharing of information must be made clear, either by obtaining the consent of the people involved, or by expressly referring to the legal provision that permits the sharing. 

Citizens and companies to which such information belongs must be able to track who used it and for what purpose. In addition, they must have the right to access such data, being able to control the use made of it, and correct it when necessary.

In order to exercise this right, it is essential to ensure the reliability of the procedures related to the digital identification of users on government platforms.

Security

It is necessary to ensure the security of data stored in government databases, avoiding risks such as leakage of private data in government custody, ensuring the reliability of data contained in public databases.

OECD and the Importance of Data Sharing

The OECD is currently discussing the issue of data sharing by the governments of member countries. In an initiative of three main committees from that organization, it is being discussed a recommendation to improve data access and its sharing. The purpose of the Recommendation is to set up general principles and public policy lines on how governments can maximize the benefits of improving access to data and the procedures for sharing it, while respecting the rights of individuals and organizations and taking into account other legitimate interests and objectives.

The work on this Recommendation is based on the assumption that access to data is an essential input for a series of innovations that have been developed worldwide, and it is necessary to boost this access by making clear the rules that needs to be followed by governments, allowing the growth of access and the transfer of information between countries.

Barbara Ubaldi, one of the international panelists invited to this International Webinar, is one of the OECD participants directly involved on the drafting of this Recommendation.

Estonia and Digital Government

Estonia is considered one of the most advanced countries on the digitalisation of public services. According to information available on Estonia's website, 99% of public services are available digitally.

One of the reasons for this success is the country's pioneering spirit in the provision of digital public services, building a shared platform that can be used by different public agencies when digitalizing their services. In this way, it has been easier to implement joint solutions for different public administration agencies.

The “Once Only” principle is fully practiced in the country. It is necessary to provide some information to the government only once in the citizen's life. Data sharing between administrative bodies is the rule.

The population's access to government services occurs through a double authentication process, which includes digital identification, widely available to citizens. Through this authentication, it is also possible to monitor the government's use of citizens' personal data.