Brazil is a leader in digital signatures with 166M gov.br users

In Brazil, 166 million people can use digital signatures with the country’s third-most popular app. The widely available capability represents a notable success in inclusive digital government transformation.

Brazil’s government services website and app Gov.br is one of the most-used digital platforms in the country, with only WhatsApp and Pix (a digital payments system) having more users. Using Gov.br, Brazilians can sign documents digitally for free with full legal validity.

Launched in 2019, Gov.br has reached 166 million users in the intervening years, reducing bureaucracy and costs for Brazilians as previously fees for Digital Certificate or for notaries were needed to access certain online government services. However, the digital platform is under attack from misinformation, according to Ronaldo Lemos, a lawyer and director of the Institute of Technology and Society of Rio de Janeiro.

Lemos points to a recent video on TikTok that went viral in which a supposed lawyer said Brazil’s courts had decided Gov.br’s signature was no longer valid and that for a signature to be valid it needs to be made by Digital Certificate.

But this is misinformation, an issue that has affected Pix and which threatens DPI in the country. The validity of the Gov.br signature is enshrined by law no. 14,063 of 2020 while it was further bolstered by a recent decision by the country’s Superior Court of Justice that explicitly validate digital signatures not made by Digital Certificate.

Lemos argues that the digital signature franchise should be extended from individuals to business, with the creation of a business module within the app so that business owners and entrepreneurs can exercise greater digital freedom.

On LinkedIn, World Bank senior digital development specialist Jonathan Marskell weighed in on Gov.br. The DPI expert highlighted digital signatures’ journey to success, with Brazilian authorities making it free and easy to use, embedding it in the Gov.br platform that so many people use, and using risk-based assurance.

“Instead of mandating PKI and licensed certificate authorities (which add cost and complexity), Brazil took a risk-based, pragmatic approach – and it’s paid off,” Marskell wrote.

This successful journey shouldn’t be taken for granted as Marskell suggested with his next comment: “In contrast, many countries have tied digital signatures to licensed certificate authorities, adding layers of cost and friction,” he observed. This results in low adoption, limited reach and persistent digital exclusion, Marskell said.

“Brazil has shown what’s possible when governments prioritize access, simplicity, and trust over outdated gatekeeping,” he concluded, calling it a “quiet revolution” in digital public infrastructure.

In other news, Brazil’s federal government and the government of the state of Minas Gerais have (digitally) signed a Cooperation Agreement for the digitization of labor and employment services. In addition, Minas Gerais will integrate the gov.br network to reduce bureaucracy and boost digital transformation in the state.

In February, Brazil and Portugal came together in high-level talks over digital governance, economy, cybersecurity and the international standardization of digital technologies, among other topics. Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Portugal’s prime minister Luís Montenegro signed an MoU to expand cooperation and digital dialogue between the two countries. Portugal has developed Gov.pt taking inspiration from its Brazilian counterpart Gov.br, and the two countries have promoted mutual recognition of documents and digital signatures.

Article Topics

Brazil  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital inclusion  |  electronic-signature  |  Gov.br  |  government services