Guide

LGPD for medical clinics: what the law requires

Yes, the LGPD applies to clinics and practices. Law 13.709/2018 covers any processing of personal data by private legal persons, and data relating to health is sensitive personal data (Art. 5, II), subject to the special regime of Art. 11. This guide explains what the law says about health data, what your clinic must do in practice, how ANPD fines work, and the legal validity of electronic medical records, with official sources. This content is informational and is not a substitute for legal advice.

Updated September 2026 10 min read By Veluni Health

What the LGPD says about health data

The LGPD (Law 13.709/2018, in force since 18/09/2020) defines, in Art. 5, II, sensitive personal data: "personal data on racial or ethnic origin, religious belief, political opinion, union or religious, philosophical or political organization membership, data relating to health or to sexual life, genetic or biometric data, when linked to a natural person". The medical record, the consultation history, the exams and even the simple fact that a patient has an appointment fall into this group.

Art. 11 creates the special regime: sensitive data may only be processed (i) with specific and highlighted consent for determined purposes (Art. 11, I), or (ii) without consent, in seven exhaustive cases (Art. 11, II, a to g). For the clinic, the central case is Art. 11, II, "f": "health care, exclusively, in procedures carried out by health professionals, health services or health authorities". That is the basis that lets a clinic treat the record and the care data without consent.

In practice: the care itself (record, scheduling, appointment confirmation) rests on health care (Art. 11, II, "f"). Secondary purposes (marketing, research, sharing with third parties outside the care) require specific and highlighted consent. Non-sensitive data (name, contact, billing) follow the Art. 7 bases, such as contract execution (Art. 7, V).

Two details that matter. First, there is no "contract execution" item in Art. 11, II: contract execution is an Art. 7, V base and does not apply to sensitive data. For health data, the care basis is health care. Second, children's and adolescents' data have reinforced protection (Art. 14 and the ECA Digital, Law 15.211/2025), which matters for clinics with pediatric patients. For health plans, Art. 11, §4 prohibits sharing health data between controllers for economic advantage, except data portability at the subject's request and transactions arising from the provision of health services.

What your clinic must do (checklist)

  1. Identify the legal basis for each processing and inform the data subject clearly and completely (Art. 7/11; Art. 9).
  2. Minimize the data: collect and keep only what is necessary for the care (Art. 6, I to III: purpose, adequacy, necessity).
  3. Apply security measures, technical and administrative: role-based access control, encryption, backups, logs of who accessed what (Art. 46; Art. 6, VII).
  4. Designate a DPO (encarregado) or, at minimum, a communication channel with data subjects (Art. 41; see below).
  5. Keep the record of processing activities (ROPA) (Art. 37; simplified form for small operators, ANPD Res. 2/2022, Art. 9).
  6. Run a data protection impact assessment (RIPD) for high-risk processing; health data is a high-risk factor (Art. 38).
  7. Honor data subject rights: confirmation, access, correction, anonymization, blocking, deletion, portability and consent revocation (Art. 18; small operators get double the deadline, Res. 2/2022, Art. 14).
  8. Notify security incidents to ANPD and to data subjects within 3 business days (Art. 48; ANPD Res. 15/2024; small operators, 6 business days).
  9. Contract vendors (operators) with data-protection clauses; liability is joint and several (Art. 42, §1).
  10. Define retention: electronic records have permanent custody (CFM 1.821/2007, Art. 7) and paper records a minimum of 20 years from the last entry (Art. 8).

One point of attention for small clinics: ANPD Resolution 2/2022 gives small operators a simplified regime (simplified ROPA, double deadlines, simplified security policy and DPO exemption), but high-risk processing removes those benefits (Art. 3, I and Art. 4). And Art. 4, II, "d" expressly lists "the use of sensitive personal data" as a high-risk criterion. A clinic processing patients' health data should assume the DPO exemption may not apply.

Fines and enforcement: what ANPD can do

Art. 52 of the LGPD provides, among other sanctions:

Dosimetry follows 11 criteria (gravity, good faith, advantage gained, economic condition, recurrence, damage, cooperation, internal mechanisms, governance, prompt correction and proportionality), regulated by ANPD Resolution 4/2023. The R$50 million cap is per infraction: distinct infractions can be fined separately.

What has been applied so far

CaseSanctionDetail
Telekall Infoservice (2023)R$14,400 + warningFirst LGPD fine: processing without legal basis and no DPO
20 companies (Feb 2025)Notification (Art. 41)For not designating a DPO; included health-sector companies
Public sector (2023-2024)Warnings and publicizationIAMSPE, SES-SC, INSS, SEEDF, SAS-PE, Ministry of Health (no DPO)
TikTok/ByteDance (Aug 2026)R$153.7 millionChildren/adolescents' data without legal basis; deletion of irregularly collected data

Enforcement is accelerating. ANPD became a full regulatory agency (Law 15.352/2026) and published the 2026-2027 Priority Themes Map (ANPD Resolution 30, 23/12/2025), which plans 25 enforcement actions on data subject rights, especially regarding biometric, health and financial data, including 10 specific actions on the processing of that data (half by H2 2026). Health is therefore a quantified enforcement priority for the next two years.

Electronic medical records: legal validity

Electronic medical records are fully valid in Brazil. CFM Resolution 1.821/2007 authorizes electronic registration and eliminates the paper requirement, provided the system reaches Security Assurance Level 2 (NGS2), which requires a digital signature with an ICP-Brasil standard certificate (Art. 3 and 5). NGS1 alone is not enough to eliminate paper (Art. 4). Electronic records have permanent custody (Art. 7) and paper records a minimum 20-year retention from the last entry (Art. 8). The resolution's preamble makes clear that the record belongs to the institution, the data belong to the patient, and professional secrecy applies regardless of the medium.

The SBIS (S-RES) certification is the quality seal that attests that security level: the current manual is v5.2 (November 2021), with categories for individual practice, clinic/outpatient, emergency care and inpatient. Certification is voluntary (no law requires using certified software), but it is the practical route to demonstrating the NGS2 level that CFM 1.821/2007 requires to operate without paper. On electronic records and the systems that manage them, also see the clinic software comparison.

WhatsApp and messages to patients

A WhatsApp message to a patient is processing of personal data (the phone number and the content, which may include sensitive data). The analysis the law itself allows (there is, so far, no official ANPD guide specific to clinics):

To see how automatic reminders fit into no-show reduction (and what the evidence shows), read how to reduce patient no-shows.

What a compliant scheduling platform does

A clinic that uses an online scheduling system becomes the controller of its patients' data and the vendor becomes an operator (Art. 5, VII). Responsibility for the legal basis is the clinic's; the vendor must deliver the technical and administrative infrastructure. What to expect from a compliant platform:

Honest limit: no platform replaces the clinic's LGPD program (consents, ROPA, DPO, incident response). The system is one compliant tool inside the program, not the program itself. For scheduling and confirmation, see what is an appointment scheduling system.

Frequently asked questions

Does the LGPD apply to clinics and practices?

Yes. The LGPD (Law 13.709/2018) applies to any processing of personal data by private legal persons (Art. 1). Data relating to health is sensitive personal data (Art. 5, II) and follows the special regime of Art. 11.

Do I need patient consent to process health data?

For the care itself, no: Art. 11, II, "f" (health care) allows processing without consent in procedures carried out by health professionals or services. Specific and highlighted consent is required for secondary purposes, such as marketing.

What are the LGPD fines?

A simple fine of up to 2% of the legal entity's Brazilian revenue in the last fiscal year (taxes excluded), capped at R$50 million per infraction, plus warnings, publicization, blocking, deletion and activity suspension (Art. 52).

Does a small clinic need a DPO?

The law says "shall designate" (Art. 41). ANPD Resolution 2/2022 exempts small operators, but high-risk processing (sensitive data) may remove the exemption. ANPD has already notified health-sector companies for not having a DPO.

Sources

  1. LGPD, Law 13.709/2018 (official text, Planalto): Arts. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 37, 38, 41, 42, 46, 48, 50, 52.
  2. ANPD. "2026-2027 Priority Themes Map." ANPD Resolution 30, 23/12/2025 (DOU 24/12/2025).
  3. ANPD. "ANPD fines TikTok R$153.7 million for failures in protecting children's and adolescents' data." gov.br/anpd, 2026 (DOU 25/08/2026).
  4. ANPD. "ANPD applies the first LGPD fine." Press release, Jul 2023 (Telekall, R$14,400).
  5. ANPD. "ANPD Resolution 2, of 27 January 2022" (small operators; simplified ROPA; double deadlines).
  6. ANPD. "ANPD Resolution 15, of 24/04/2024" (incident notification; 3 business days).
  7. ANPD. "ANPD Resolution 18, of 16/07/2024" (DPO) and "ANPD Resolution 4/2023" (dosimetry).
  8. ANPD. NT 58/2025 (WhatsApp/Meta data sharing; audit and compliance plan), 28/11/2025.
  9. CFM. "Resolution 1.821, of 11/07/2007" (electronic records; NGS2; ICP-Brasil; permanent custody) and "Resolution 2.218/2018".
  10. SBIS. "S-RES Certification Manual v5.2" (10/11/2021).
  11. Law 15.211/2025 (ECA Digital) and Law 15.352/2026 (ANPD as regulatory agency).
  12. G1/Valor. "ANPD notifies 20 companies for breaching the rule" (DPO; includes health companies), 07/02/2025.
  13. Confidata. "ANPD sanctions map: all cases 2026" (2023-2026 timeline).

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