Rio de Janeiro government investigated for misuse of Córtex surveillance platform
Brazil's Ministry of Justice audit detected that Rio de Janeiro government officials used 69.2 million fake or unauthorized CPF numbers to conduct 213 million searches on the Córtex surveillance platform. Federal Police and the Federal Public Ministry have opened investigations into possible crimes including data falsification and unauthorized system access.
What happened
An audit by the Ministry of Justice detected that 69.2 million CPFs (Brazilian taxpayer identification numbers) were registered as authors of 213 million searches on the Córtex platform using accounts linked to Rio de Janeiro government security forces.
The Ministry identified 'strong indications' of automation of searches and creation of fake CPFs to bypass platform blocking mechanisms in data covering 236 days from September 2024 onwards.
Reported impact
The number of CPFs misused represents approximately one-third of Brazil's entire population.
The Córtex platform provides access to sensitive databases including information on vehicles, fiscal data, assets, and financial movements of individuals and companies.
Index analysis
The Federal Police opened an inquiry to investigate possible crimes of insertion of false data in information systems, violation of functional secrecy, and unauthorized access to computer devices.
Deputy Renata Souza filed a representation with the Federal Public Ministry alleging massive unauthorized use of federal data by state agents and violations of Brazil's data protection law (LGPD).
Governance controls
The investigations also targeted queries involving PEPs (Politically Exposed Persons).
The audited period analyzed searches starting from September 2024.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.