The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation will discuss as of Monday, April 25, the actions of unconstitutionality promoted by the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI) and opposition Senators, against the National Register of Mobile Telephony Users (Panaut).
The draft ruling prepared by Minister Norma Lucía Piña Hernández proposes to declare the total invalidity of the decree of April 16, 2021 that reforms the Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law, and creates the Panaut.
The project considers that said decree of reforms generates an affectation to the rights to privacy, intimacy and protection of personal data that is not reasonable nor is it a necessary legislative measure for a democratic society.
The draft ruling also mentions that the Panaut generates an interference with the right to privacy, since it collects information that allows very precise conclusions to be drawn about the private life of people, it does not regulate the access of the State to the information provided by the users of mobile telephony, is mandatory, covers all holders of a telephone line, and the storage of personal data is indefinite.
The organization Network in Defense of Digital Rights, which has promoted the #NoAlPadrón, said it celebrates the meaning of Minister Piña’s project, as well as the incorporation of various arguments presented to the Court by civil society organizations through the amicus curiae route.
“By virtue of the imminent discussion, we respectfully urge the Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation to vote in favor of Minister Piña’s sentence project. The creation of the Panaut would violate the human rights of millions of people, which is why we believe that the Court must adequately resolve this matter of enormous importance for the validity of human rights in Mexico”, she mentioned.
“The Supreme Court has the historic opportunity to establish an invaluable precedent in the defense of the right to privacy, intimacy and protection of personal data, as well as the rights of access to information technologies, the presumption of innocence, among others. . We trust that the Ministers will make the right decision in defense of the rights of Mexicans”, he added.
Minister Norma Piña’s bill establishes that the contested reform of the Federal Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting violates rights by ordering the creation of the National Register of Mobile Telephony Users, which will obtain, collect, store, record and preserve the personal data that in together they give an x-ray of people’s private lives.
“Given the strong impact that the Panaut generates on human rights to privacy and protection of personal data, and given that the sensitive data of mobile phone users is also affected, it must be concluded that the issuance of the contested decree required a impact assessment on the protection of personal data in terms of the aforementioned General Law, which of the records that make up this file does not show that it has existed. Not having complied with this requirement subjects the rights to privacy, intimacy and protection of personal data to a risk that cannot be guaranteed in light of articles 6 and 16 of the General Constitution”, the project mentions.
The document mentions that the personal data required by the Panaut may allow access to information or other personal data and reveal geolocation, bank account data, involve identity and asset theft, as well as evidence political opinions and religious beliefs, preference sexual, racial and ethnic origin, with which the State would supervise, review and control the most private sphere of the people.
“The contested precepts require the processing of personal data, including sensitive data, which, by itself, violates the right to protection of personal data and the right to privacy and intimacy of individuals, since it empties its content absolutely, by exposing, without limitation or legitimate justification, personal data that refer to all people, their attributes and their identity”, he refers.