Argentina’s data protection law was one of the first issued in this matter in South America, in 2000. Later on, the National Data Protection Office (DPO) invited the society to participate in the discussion to update the law, in 2017.
Updates included in the 2017 bill
The bill looked to guarantee the rights of personal data owners and clarify the legal bases for the data processing. It also generated responsibilities on data processing parties. This bill established new data rights to data protection owners, in alignment with the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe (GDPR).
Unfortunately, this previous project that aimed to update the National Data Protection Law lost parliamentary status in 2020.
The new discussion over the Data Protection law in Argentina
In 2022, the government appointed new authorities at the Agency of Access to Public Information, under whose authority is the DPO. The National Data Protection Agency is looking now for a new bill to update the 2000 Argentina’s Data Protection Law. Therefore, the Agency has issued a notice establishing that the Law will be reviewed and inviting the society and academics to participate in the discussion, once again.
What to expect from the new bill
Even though Argentina issued its Data Protection Law in 2000, the DPO has managed to keep it updated with recommendations and regulations. Additionally, the European Union has considered Argentina as having adequate levels of protection for the international transfer of personal data.
On the other hand, there has been a huge progress on Data Protection matters in the region. For instance, Brazil – Argentina’s neighbour – issued a new, updated and GDPR aligned law in 2018. Therefore, the new bill will seek to keep Argentina’s adequate zone status for international data transfers, along with including new and more updated rights, already recognised by modern laws in this matter.
