Cadastros

Cadastros are registries or inventories used by governments and organizations to collect, maintain, and share information about people, properties, assets, or legal rights. The term is common in Portuguese-speaking countries and is applied at national, regional, and local levels. Cadastre systems typically combine administrative records with geographic information to support administration and decision making.

Common types include the cadastral registry for land and real property, which documents ownership, boundaries, assessed values, and encumbrances; taxpayer registries for individuals and businesses, such as CPF and CNPJ in Brazil; social-program registries like Cadastro Único in Brazil; and population registers used for census and public services. In some contexts, cadastros also cover assets such as vehicles or intellectual property.

Cadastros serve several purposes: they provide a basis for taxation and property transactions; they support urban and regional planning, infrastructure investment, and service provision; and they enable targeted social programs and statistical analyses. Access to the data is often regulated to balance transparency with privacy and security concerns.

Most modern cadastros rely on geographic information systems (GIS) to map properties and integrate data from multiple agencies. Data quality, timely updates, and interoperability between systems are critical challenges. Legal frameworks govern data collection, storage, sharing, and rights of property owners and registrants.

Examples of widely used cadastros include Brazil's CPF and CNPJ, which identify individuals and legal entities for tax purposes; and the Brazilian Cadastro Único for social programs. In Portugal and other lusophone countries, cadastral registries are used for property rights and taxation. The concept is closely related to land registries, census operations, and property registries in many jurisdictions.