We are the Data Fixers.
We are experts in finding data and public records about environmental crimes in Brazil.
We use public records to find stories and help journalists find theirs.
We help to promote government transparency.
Our stories and partnerships Datasets Publications/republications Interviews/presentations Partners About
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The Brazilian Bow Makers Under Investigation For Dealing in Endangered Wood
A 2-month cross-border investigation in the US, UK and Brazil about a group of bowmakers suspicious of trafficking an endangered brazilian wood to make violin and cello bows.
Read the English version Read the story in Portuguese (part 1) Read the story in Portuguese (part 2)Brazil might lose R$ 300 million in environmental fines
A story we found through a database of expired fines. Brazil's Federal Court of Accounts released a report mentioning the same documents and conclusions revealed in this story and recommended policy changes to the environmental agency a few months later.
Read the story in PortugueseA failure of enforcement
The Washington Post used our expired fines dataset and support to investigate how Brazil is struggling to enforce environmental crimes. Their reporter praised our project on his Twitter.
Read the storyAmazon Underworld: A Cross-Border Investigation Into the Criminal Networks That Run the Amazon
We were hired by InfoAmazonia to develop a project related to environmental crimes in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.
Read about the projectLand grabbing? Rural properties located in indigenous land protected areas (and some of their owners)
We have obtained a dataset - Rural Land Register (Cadastro Ambiental Rural) - from the state of Mato Grosso and cross-referencted it with another database of rural areas located inside indigenous lands. The data comes from Ibama, Brazil's environmental agency.
Open the spreadsheet Check the code on Github/Google CollaboratoryPolitical candidates and donors (2022) sanctioned for environmental crimes
We have scraped every environmental fine from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources website (IBAMA) and cross-referenced it with every political candidate and donor in the 2022 Brazilian election. It was used in an investigation by Al Jazeera and several other media outlets.
Open the spreadsheets Check the code on Github/Google CollaboratoryReconciliation hearings - Ibama (2021-2022)
A dataset obtained through a FOIA request containing the result of environmental offenders reconciliation hearings.
Read about the data (in Portuguese) Open the spreadsheetRural property ownership in Distrito Federal (DF) - Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR)
A dataset obtained through a FOIA request containing every rural land register in Distrito Federal and who owns those lands.
Read about the data (in Portuguese) Open the spreadsheetIndigenous people mental health data (2018-2022)
We have obtained data from the Ministry of Health in a Freedom of Information request (FOIA) with details about alcohol and drug abuse among indigenous people in Brazil.
Open the spreadsheetsIllegal fishing and wildlife trafficking (seizures) in Brazil's conservation units
A database obtained through a freedom of information request containing every case of illegal fishing and wildlife trafficking in Brazilian conservation units (source:ICMBio).
Open the spreadsheetsPolitical candidates and donors (2022) sanctioned for slave labor
We have cross-referenced every political candidate and donor in the 2022 Brazilian election with slave-labor cases between 2010 and 2020 obtained through a FOIA request.
Open the spreadsheets Check the code on Github/Google CollaboratoryEmployee dismissal records at IBAMA
Through the Access to Informaction Act (also known as LAI in Brazil), we got access to records related to the dismissals of public officials at IBAMA. One of these documents revealed that an official agent anticipated operations against environmental crimes to a company.
Read the documentsExpired environmental fines
This is a dataset of environmental fines expired in Brazil, including companies' names, environmental crimes and more. It was featured in journalistic investigations by BBC and The Washington Post.
Open the dataset in OCCRP's Aleph system (account needed) Open it in a Google SpreadsheetTimber illegal trade (2008-2022)
We have scraped every timber illegal trade sanctioned by Ibama from 2008 to 2022 with specific details about each case, divided by city, state and company.
Read the code (Python/Google Colab) Open a Google SpreadsheetEnvironmental crime administrative trials
A dataset of environmental crimes found by IBAMA, the Brazilian environmental agency, and their trial date.
Check the code on Github/Google Collaboratory Check the spreadsheets (in Portuguese)Any use of documents downloaded from this site must attribute the "Data Fixers project" with a link to our website.
We support news outlets in Brazil and abroad. See who's publishing/republishing our work:
We contribute to improve public transparency awareness in Brazil by doing presentations and interviews
Filecoin Foundation for the Descentralized Web/#FilLisbon2022 (Nov.22) - presentation about Data Fixers in Lisbon/Portugal in a tech conference. Held in English.
Jornal da Cultura - interview (Dec.22) - Our founder Luiz Fernando Toledo was interviewed by Jornal da Cultura, a traditional TV show in Brazil, to explain how Brazil can improve transparency policies in 2023. Held in Portuguese.
UOL/Análise da Notícia - interview (Dec.22) - Our founder Luiz Fernando Toledo was interviewed by Brazil's most popular news website to explain how we did the Brazilwood smuggling investigation. Held in Portuguese.
Fiquem Sabendo. One of Brazil's most relevant non-profit organizations specialized in public records. We publish data in their newsletter together and partner with media organizations to use our data. Read the content here.
InfoAmazonia. Data, interactive maps and journalism on the Amazon rainforest. We we hired to provide data and support for a project related to criminal gangs in the Amazon Rainforest. Read more here.
Muckrock/Document Cloud (via Filecoin Foundation). We got funding to use DocumentCloud as our platform to share documents and investigate public records for stories. Read more here.
Revista Piauí (Piauí magazine). One of the the most relevant news magazines in Brazil. Our publishing partner for several projects, including a major cross-border investigation about timber smuggling
Global Witness. A non-profit organization that investigates and exposes environmental and human rights abuses. We were hired as public records consultants in Brazil for a specific project.
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). This cross-border investigative journalism platform based in Europe is our publishing partner and also helps us spread important datasets through their Aleph system, a platform dedicated to investigative journalists around the world.
About
Data Fixers is a data-driven journalism project sponsored by The Brown Institute for Media Innovation – a joint initiative between Columbia University and Stanford University. We received a Magic Grant to find data and public records to investigate environmental crimes in Brazil. Read more about the project in this article by Muckrock and here at the Brown Institute's website.
Send an email if you want to hire us or are interested in making a partnership!
Project manager
Luiz Fernando Toledo
Master of Science in Data Journalism at Columbia University (22') and in Public Administration at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-EAESP, 21'). Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (Abraji) director, data journalism professor at Insper (São Paulo/Brazil). Over a decade of experience in major brazilian news outlets and on cross-border journalism projects. Founder of Fiquem Sabendo, one of the most relevant platforms about public records in Brazil and that it being used as a source by hundreds of national and international newspapers.