Digitization and the Brazilian LGPD: How to Structure an Efficient and Secure Project

Document digitization has become a priority for companies of all sizes — and not by accident. In practice, most organizations only start paying attention to this topic once the problem has already grown too large:

• an auditor requests a document and no one can find it
• the legal team urgently needs the signed contract
• the HR team needs to retrieve an old employee record
• the finance team wastes time searching for invoices and receipts
• a client asks for historical information that’s “in some box somewhere”

If you’ve experienced something like this, you should know it’s more common than it seems. That’s why many companies make a quick — and seemingly simple — decision: “Let’s digitize everything.”
And we agree: digitization is a smart move.
However, there’s a critical point that must be clear from the start: document digitization is not the end of the problem — it’s just the beginning of a more strategic, secure, and efficient document management approach.

Digitization Is a Smart Decision (But It Requires Strategy)

Document digitization reduces paper usage, optimizes physical space, and improves day-to-day workflows. It also makes audits easier and boosts productivity. However, to deliver real results, digitization must be treated as a structured project — simply scanning files and saving them to a folder isn’t enough.

If the organization doesn’t define standards, rules, and controls, what was meant to be progress becomes nothing more than a format shift. In other words, the physical archive disappears… and a digital archive takes its place.

What Happens When a Company Digitizes Without a Plan?

When digitization is handled in an improvised way, problems surface quickly.

For example:

• files with different names for the same document
• duplicate versions circulating internally
• documents scattered across email and WhatsApp
• folder structures that only one person “understands”
• lack of control over who can access what
• difficulty locating information during audits

Worst of all, the company believes it is modernizing operations — but the business remains bottlenecked. As a result, productivity doesn’t improve, and risk actually increases.

Why Has Digitization Become a Priority for Companies?

Today, digitization is no longer just about organization — it’s a strategic decision. That’s because companies that digitize the right way gain:

• faster access to information
• greater efficiency in internal processes
• stronger security for storage and sharing
• better control over versions and approvals
• improved compliance with audits and regulatory requirements

There is also one factor that cannot be ignored: Brazil’s LGPD (similar to GDPR).

After all, personal and sensitive data doesn’t live only in systems. It also exists in contracts, employee files, forms, records, and physical documents. That’s why structured digitization has become a practical way to reduce risk and strengthen information protection.

The 5 Most Common Mistakes in Enterprise Document Digitization

Even well-structured companies can make mistakes in this process. That’s why we’ve outlined the key issues that stall digitization initiatives and prevent real results.

1) Digitizing without an organizational standard

When there’s no clear structure, each department creates its own model. As a result, the document repository grows without logic, and over time the right file becomes harder to find.

2) Relying only on file names

Esse erro é muito comum. A empresa cria arquivos como: contrato_cliente_assinado_final_v3.pdf e depois de alguns meses, ninguém lembra qual é o correto e a busca vira tentativa e erro.

3) Not indexing documents with metadata

Without indexing, a file is just a PDF. With metadata indexing, it becomes structured data. In practice, this allows teams to locate documents using fields such as tax ID (e.g., CNPJ), date, document type, contract number, and responsible department. This changes everything.

4) Failing to control access and permissions

Not every document should be accessible to everyone. Corporate records often contain confidential HR, financial, or legal information. Without proper access controls, organizations significantly increase the risk of data exposure and compliance failures.

5) Digitizing without a DMS (Document Management System)

This is the most critical point: digitization without a DMS is like building a library without a catalog. You may have the documents, but you lack governance — and without governance, the organization cannot scale sustainably.

How to Do Digitization the Right Way (Step by Step)

Now that we understand the common pitfalls, let’s move to the practical path.

When organizations follow a structured approach, digitization stops being a one-off project and becomes a true transformation in document management.

1. Inventory of Physical Records

Before any scanning begins, we recommend mapping the current landscape. During this inventory, it’s important to identify:

• approximate document volume
• current locations (headquarters, branch offices, boxes, cabinets)
• responsible areas (HR, Finance, Legal, etc.)
• the most critical and most frequently accessed documents
• records subject to mandatory retention

This allows the organization to avoid waste and prioritize what truly drives value.

2. Document Classification and Typology

After the inventory, a logical structure is defined. For example:

• contracts and amendments
• tax and accounting documents
• HR and employment records
• dossiers and registrations
• powers of attorney, corporate minutes, and official records
• compliance documentation

This step brings clarity and makes long-term management much easier. It also ensures cross-department standardization.

3. Preparation and Organization for Digitization

Before digitizing, the repository must be properly prepared. This includes:

• removing staples and paper clips
• separating batches by document type
• organizing in chronological order
• cleaning documents when necessary
• identifying fragile or deteriorated records

This preparation ensures smoother processing, better preservation, and less rework.

4. Quality-Controlled Digitization

Digitization is not just scanning — a professional initiative requires standards. Key factors include:

• appropriate resolution
• guaranteed legibility
• standardized file formats
• quality control by sampling or batch
• final verification before completion

This delivers consistency and reliability across the digital repository.

5. Metadata Indexing

This is the step that truly transforms the project. Metadata indexing links strategic information to each document. For example:

• tax ID (e.g., CNPJ/CPF)
• client or employee name
• contract number
• issue date
• responsible department
• document type
• cost center

With this in place, search is no longer about “digging through folders” — it becomes fast, intelligent, and precise.

6. Security, Access Controls, and Traceability

After digitization and indexing, protection becomes essential. Corporate information requires strong governance. Best practices include:

• role- and department-based access
• restrictions for sensitive documents
• access history and audit logs
• version control
• monitoring and full traceability

These measures strengthen compliance and reduce exposure risk.

7. Retention and Compliant Disposal

Another critical step is defining the document lifecycle. In other words:

• how long to retain
• where to store
• when to dispose
• how to dispose securely

Beyond reducing costs, this improves risk management and increases compliance with internal policies and regulatory requirements.

8. DMS: When Digitization Becomes Real Productivity

This is where the real transformation happens. McFile is a DMS (Document Management System) that enables organizations to manage documents with clarity and control. With McFile, companies can:

• centralize the digital repository in a secure environment
• structure categories and intelligent indexing
• define permissions by user and department
• automate workflows and approvals
• create a complete audit trail
• accelerate processes and decision-making
• maximize productivity and operational efficiency

In other words, digitization stops being just “digital storage” and becomes true business intelligence.

Digitization and Brazil’s LGPD: Risk Exists in Both Paper and Digital

When companies think about Brazil’s LGPD (similar to GDPR), many immediately focus on systems, databases, and IT security. However, the reality is usually much broader.

In practice, a large portion of the personal and sensitive data organizations handle every day is stored in both physical and digital documents — including signed contracts, registration forms, HR records, financial records, medical or operational files, and even vendor and customer records.

That’s why it’s critical to understand a simple but decisive point: the LGPD also applies to paper documents.

And this is where the biggest challenge emerges. If a document isn’t organized, it isn’t protected. Moreover, when companies lack visibility into where information resides, they struggle to quickly locate files, respond to data subject requests (DSRs), and demonstrate traceability during audits.

On the other hand, when a digitization initiative is structured with standards, metadata indexing, and governance within a DMS (Document Management System), the scenario changes completely. Organizations gain stronger security, tighter access control, greater transparency, and improved day-to-day efficiency.

In other words, digitization stops being just “converting paper into PDFs” and becomes a practical way to strengthen compliance, reduce risk, and increase document management maturity across the operation.

Who Handles Secure Digitization and Physical Records Storage?

This is a very common question — especially when organizations realize their document volume is larger than expected.

High-quality digitization requires far more than just a scanner. Ensuring clarity, preservation, and efficiency demands proven methodology, experience, and standardization. And when sensitive records are involved, security, traceability, and control must be enforced at every stage of the process.

For organizations seeking a fully structured initiative, partnering with a specialized operation is the recommended path. The right provider can manage everything from repository preparation to large-scale digitization, ensuring proper metadata indexing, quality control, and a secure chain of custody.

When physical records storage is still required, this support becomes even more critical. Companies must have guarantees around preservation, organization, and rapid retrieval of original documents whenever needed.

In this context, we work with Destaque Document Management, a company specialized in enterprise document digitization, offsite records storage, and repository structuring with a strong focus on security, preservation, and compliance.

Learn more about Destaque Document Management

This approach enables us to deliver a truly end-to-end solution — from physical to digital — with seamless control, visibility, and protection at every stage.

Digitization Is the First Step Toward Evolving Document Management

Document digitization is a foundational step for organizations looking to modernize processes and drive efficiency. However, scanning for the sake of scanning doesn’t solve the problem. Without standards, metadata indexing, and proper controls, the document repository becomes increasingly disorganized — and teams keep losing time. On top of that, the lack of governance increases security and compliance risks.

On the other hand, when digitization is executed strategically and documents are managed within a DMS (Document Management System) like McFile, the outcome is far more intelligent and sustainable. Organizations gain clarity, productivity, and speed. At the same time, they strengthen information protection, improve access controls, and ensure full traceability for audits and decision-making.

In other words, companies move beyond simply storing documents and begin treating information as a strategic business asset.

McFile. Drive your efficiency.