Mexico City, January 24, 2023
In the framework of the international day for the protection of personal data, it is relevant to analyze some of the pending issues of Mexico in this matter.
Mexico has been a party since 2018 to the only universal international treaty on data protection, the Convention for the Protection of Individuals regarding the Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108), and its Additional Protocol. Convention 108 was modernized, meeting new technological challenges. The possibility of acceding to Convention 108+ was opened on October 10, 2018. However, today, Mexico is not a party to Convention 108+.
In January 2021, the Commissioner of the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data («INAI»), Francisco Javier Acuña Llamas announced that Mexico had had approaches with the Council of Europe to initiate the corresponding steps to join Convention 108+. Furthermore, the Commissioner also emphasized the importance of modernizing the Federal Law for the Protection of Personal Data in Possession of Private Parties (LFPDPPP) to adapt it to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [1], that can facilitate accession to the modernized Convention. Unfortunately, no progress has been made in this regard.
In a global and digitalized era, it is essential, both from an economic-commercial and human rights point of view, to adapt Mexican data protection regulations to comply with the most modern international standards, which are undoubtedly set by the European region. It is necessary to call on the Congress of the Union to attend to the agenda of personal data protection and not to remain at a standstill as it has been until now.
With the modernization of data protection legislation, the Mexican State could also seek an «adequacy decision» from the European Commission, which would imply the free flow of data between Mexico and Europe, facilitating and strengthening trade relations between these two regions.
In the Privacy, IT and Data Protection practice area we are at your service.
Adolfo Athié
Renata Bueron
Erika Rodríguez
Iván García
[1] Maritza Perez, “México inicia gestiones para suscribir el Convenio 108 de Europa sobre protección de datos a nivel internacional,” El Economista, Enero 31, 2021, https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/internacionales/Mexico-inicia-gestiones-para-suscribir-el-Convenio-108-de-Europa-sobre-proteccion-de-datos-a-nivel-internacional-20210130-0020.html
