Brazil health data sovereignty faces cybersecurity risks

The health data of 210 million Brazilians is currently stored in institutional silos, creating significant risks for national sovereignty and cybersecurity. These static repositories, where medical records, prescriptions, and exam results are held by individual clinics or laboratories, act as concentrated targets for cyberattacks and potential exploitation by foreign powers or corporations.

An alternative technical and political approach suggests moving from a “deposit” model to a “track” model. In this proposed system, medical documents would function as objects in circulation, controlled by the patients and the Unified Health System (SUS), allowing information to flow securely between institutions rather than being trapped in isolated, vulnerable databases.