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VPN in Brazil: Is It a Crime, and Do You Need One?

An iPhone resting on the marble counter of a Brazilian corner bakery beside a small coffee cup and a pão de queijo, soft morning light coming in from the open street front, passers-by blurred outside

As of November 2026, no Brazilian law makes using a VPN a crime. What the 2024 STF fine over X covered, what the lei Felca says, and when a VPN helps.

Marco Lee7 min read

No. As of November 2026, no Brazilian law makes using a VPN a crime, and most people don’t need one for everyday browsing at home. The “VPN é crime” worry points to two things: a 2024 Supreme Court fine tied to the suspension of X, which ended that October, and a 2026 law that raises sentences only when someone hides their IP address to commit crimes against children. A VPN helps most on public Wi-Fi and in keeping your IP address from the sites you visit.

Is using a VPN a crime in Brazil?

I found no Brazilian law that bans using a VPN. The one federal law I found that deals with hiding your IP address is Lei nº 15.487, de 6 de agosto de 2026, in force since it was published on August 7, 2026 (Câmara dos Deputados, Agência Senado). It added article 226-A to the ECA, the Statute of the Child and Adolescent. The sentence goes up by a third to two thirds when someone commits one of the ECA’s crimes using a “técnica de mascaramento, ocultação, falsificação, alteração ou anonimização de endereço IP” (technique to mask, hide, falsify, change or anonymize an IP address) “com o objetivo de impedir ou dificultar sua identificação” (to prevent or hinder their identification).

The next line is the one that matters for everyone else. The rule “não se aplica ao uso legítimo de tecnologias de privacidade e segurança digital quando empregadas para fins lícitos” (doesn’t apply to the legitimate use of privacy and digital security technologies for lawful purposes), such as protecting personal or business data, privacy and cybersecurity.

The bill behind it, PL 3.066/2025, first proposed a separate crime it called “Spoofing” (art. 241-G), and even that was limited to using these tools to commit the bill’s crimes (Câmara dos Deputados). In May 2026 the Câmara dropped it as a crime of its own and passed the sentence increase instead (Câmara dos Deputados, Agência Câmara).

Reporting on a separate bill in 2025, the Câmara’s news service put it plainly: “O uso de VPN no Brasil é legal, desde que não seja para atividades ilícitas ou para burlar decisões judiciais” (Using a VPN in Brazil is legal, as long as it isn’t for illegal activity or to get around court decisions) (Agência Câmara). That bill, PL 3.402/2024, would write a right to use VPNs into the Marco Civil da Internet. As of November 9, 2026 it’s still waiting for a committee report (Câmara dos Deputados), so it isn’t law.

What a VPN doesn’t change:

  • A crime is still a crime. For crimes against children, hiding your IP address now makes the sentence heavier.
  • Court orders still apply. See the X case below.
  • Blocked services stay illegal. Ancine can order access to pirated films, series and sports streams cut off, and works with Anatel to have them blocked (Ancine). In April 2026 the government blocked 28 prediction-market platforms as illegal betting, and says more than 39,000 irregular betting sites have been blocked with Anatel (Secom). Reaching them another way doesn’t make them legal.

This is what the sources say as of November 2026, not legal advice. Follow Brazilian law, and for your own situation, ask a lawyer.

The 2024 STF order on X: where “VPN é crime” comes from

On August 30, 2024, Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) ordered X, formerly Twitter, suspended across Brazil in case Pet 12404, until the company complied with court orders and paid its fines. The order set a “multa diária de R$ 50 mil a pessoas e empresas que utilizarem ‘subterfúgios tecnológicos’ para manter o uso do X” (daily fine of R$50,000 for people and companies that use “technological workarounds” to keep using X). His first version also told Apple and Google to remove apps that make VPN use possible from their stores; in a new decision he suspended that part (STF).

On September 2, the STF’s First Panel unanimously confirmed the suspension. Moraes clarified that the fine applied to people and companies that tried to defraud the decision “utilizando subterfúgios tecnológicos (como o uso de VPN, entre outros)” (using technological workarounds, such as a VPN, among others) to keep using X (STF). The Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) challenged only the VPN fine, in ADPF 1190 (STF).

On October 8, 2024, after X blocked the profiles the court had named, appointed a legal representative in Brazil and paid R$28.6 million in fines, Moraes authorized its immediate return and told Anatel to restore the service (STF).

So the fine was a court order about one platform during one suspension, not a law against VPNs, and with X back there’s no suspension left to get around. The general lesson I’d take: a court can penalize people who use a VPN to get around its order.

What is the “lei Felca”?

It’s the nickname for the ECA Digital, officially the Estatuto Digital da Criança e do Adolescente, Lei nº 15.211, de 17 de setembro de 2025 (Câmara dos Deputados). The bill had been in Congress since 2022. It gained national attention after the influencer Felipe Bressanim, known as Felca, posted a video in August 2025 denouncing the “adultização” (adultification) and sexual exploitation of children and teens online, and the Senate passed it on August 27, 2025 (Agência Senado). It took effect on March 17, 2026 (Agência Câmara), and the Câmara’s legislation database lists “Não consta revogação expressa” (no express repeal) (Câmara dos Deputados).

The law puts its duties on companies:

  • Sites and apps with content that’s improper for under-18s, such as pornography, must use reliable age verification on each access and can’t rely on users declaring their own age (art. 9).
  • App stores and operating systems must estimate users’ age and send an age signal to apps (art. 12).
  • Its penalties, from a warning to fines of up to 10% of the company group’s revenue in Brazil or a ban on its activities, are for providers that break those rules (art. 35).

The ANPD, which enforces it, calls this “responsabilidade compartilhada” (shared responsibility) between families, society, the state and technology companies (ANPD). The law’s text doesn’t mention VPNs, and nothing in it makes using one a crime. The IP-hiding rule is in the other law, Lei 15.487, described above.

Do you need a VPN in Brazil?

At home, on a network you control, I wouldn’t call it a must. It helps most in two situations.

Public Wi-Fi. CERT.br, the national incident response team run by NIC.br (CERT.br), warns that “Redes Wi-Fi públicas podem representar riscos, como expor a sua privacidade ou redirecionar suas conexões para sites maliciosos” (public Wi-Fi networks can pose risks, such as exposing your privacy or redirecting your connections to malicious sites). Its advice for phones: check that the network is legitimate, use https, “Considere usar uma rede virtual privada (VPN)” (consider using a VPN), and for financial transactions prefer a network you trust (CERT.br). Its quick tips add that on open networks you should use services with encryption “como HTTPS, PGP, SSH e VPN” (CERT.br). How big the risk really is: is public Wi-Fi safe.

Keeping your IP address to yourself. In the Câmara’s own description, a VPN creates “uma conexão segura e criptografada” (a secure, encrypted connection) and “mascara o endereço IP” (masks the IP address) (Agência Câmara). Sites then see the VPN server’s address instead of yours. You can see what yours shows on What Is My IP.

What it doesn’t change: sites you sign in to still know it’s you, a scam page is still a scam page, and nothing illegal becomes legal. More on that line in what a VPN actually changes.

If you’re visiting Brazil

Visitors mostly meet public Wi-Fi at airports and hotels. CERT.br’s tip for checking a network is to “procure indicação da rede disponível, como placas e cartazes” (look for the network’s name on signs or posters) and to confirm with the venue if in doubt (CERT.br). For the details, see is airport Wi-Fi safe and is hotel Wi-Fi safe. For banking on the road, I’d use mobile data when I can, in line with CERT.br’s “prefira uma rede em que você confie” (prefer a network you trust).

None of the sources above treat visitors differently, and the betting blocks are applied by Brazilian internet providers once Anatel notifies them (Secom), so you’ll meet them on local networks too.

Where Mistero fits

Mistero doesn’t make anything legal, and it isn’t for getting around a court-ordered or government block, like the 2024 X suspension or the Ancine and Anatel blocks. If a court or a regulator has blocked a site in Brazil, a VPN doesn’t change why.

It’s for the everyday part above. The App Store listing says you can “Connect with one tap on public Wi-Fi”, “Mask your IP address while the VPN is active”, “Connect to available VPN locations in one tap” and “Check Wi-Fi for visible connection or DNS anomalies”. It also notes that “Other feature availability may vary by device, region, network, and system settings” (App Store listing, read Nov 9, 2026).

Sources

Pricing New subscribers can start a 3-day free trial. After the trial, the subscription renews automatically at $12.99 per week unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends, in Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions (Apple Support). There's also a one-time Lifetime purchase for $99.99. These are US App Store prices as of October 2026; the purchase screen shows the current price before you confirm.

Frequently asked questions

Is using a VPN a crime in Brazil?

Not as of November 2026. I found no Brazilian law that makes using a VPN a crime. What's illegal stays illegal with one, and a 2026 law raises sentences for crimes against children committed while hiding your IP address, but it says that rule doesn't apply to legitimate privacy and security use for lawful purposes. This isn't legal advice.

Does the lei Felca make VPNs illegal?

No. 'Lei Felca' is the nickname for the ECA Digital (Lei 15.211/2025), in force since March 17, 2026. Its duties fall on tech companies, such as age verification and parental controls, and its text doesn't mention VPNs.

Can I still be fined for using a VPN to access X?

The R$50,000 daily fine was part of the Supreme Court's August 2024 order suspending X, aimed at people using workarounds such as a VPN to keep using X during that suspension. On October 8, 2024 the court authorized X's return, so there is no suspension left to get around.

Is a VPN necessary in Brazil?

Not for everyday browsing at home. It's most useful on public Wi-Fi, where CERT.br suggests considering one, and when you'd rather not show your IP address to the sites you visit.
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