Mexico to Lose Current Data Protection Authority
Mexico will eliminate its current data protection authority and appoint a new one as a result of a recent constitutional reform, two Hogan Lovells lawyers said in recent blog.
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The decree that extinguishes the Federal Institute for Access to Public Information and Data Protection (INAI) along with several other constitutional bodies was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on Dec. 20, the lawyers said. The INAI's authority regarding transparency and protection of personal data is going to the Ministry of Anticorruption and Good Governance, though the specific area of the ministry to be in charge of personal data has not yet been clarified, they said.
“It is important to note that the Decree seeks to extinguish the regulator, but the legal framework regarding the protection of personal data held by private entities remains,” wrote Hogan Lovells' Federico De Noriega Olea and Ana Paula Rumualdo in the blog.
Enforcement of the decree began Dec. 21, with federal and local congresses having 90 calendar days to make necessary adjustments to align with the decree, the lawyers said. It establishes that public entities will use the general law issued by Mexico's Congress on transparency, protection of personal data and access to public information, they said.
“The implications of this reform are broad and are yet to be fully defined,” the lawyers said. “For the time being, the INAI will continue to process the matters that is currently handling. If such matters are not concluded before the amendments to the existing secondary legislation are issued, such matters will be transferred to the Ministry of Anticorruption and Good Governance for their continuation and conclusion.”