Court Upholds Habeas Data Action

SUMMARY

In “López Jallaguier v. Banco Hipotecario S.A.”, Chamber B of the National Commercial Court of Appeals upheld a habeas data action against Banco Hipotecario. The bank had reported a former legal representative of a cooperative to the Central Bank for bounced checks, years after he had left the position and the account had been closed. The Court ordered the data to be corrected before the Central Bank, since complying with the reporting duty is not enough: the data must be accurate and complete.

 

A former legal representative of Cooperativa de Vivienda y Consumo Integrar Ltda. filed a habeas data action grounded on Personal Data Protection Law No. 25,326 (the “PDPL,” for its acronym in Spanish) against the local bank, Banco Hipotecario (the “Bank”), claiming that the Bank had ignored its prior claims in breach of sections 13 and 14 of the PDPL. 

In this action, the plaintiff requested that the Bank rectify certain personal information contained in its database, as it was inaccurate, and, also, that it communicate and rectify the information submitted to the BCRA. The action was accepted by the trial court. The defendant appealed.

In the case, it was demonstrated that the Bank closed the plaintiff’s account in 2010 and that it had notified the BCRA of rejected checks from Cooperativa 6 years after it had ceased to be Cooperativa’s legal representative and 8 years after the account had been closed. This is the information the plaintiff requested that the Bank rectify and update.

On that basis, the Court of Appeals held that, despite having allegedly complied with a legal obligation to notify the BCRA of debtors, the defendant incurred in unlawful behavior, as it is not enough to invoke a legal obligation; complying means fulfilling what is required by law with respect to the quality of the data (i.e. in an accurate and complete manner).

Lastly, the Court of Appeals highlighted the relevance of the discomfort that the fact of being “reported” to the BCRA as a debtor could cause to any person, resulting in damage to their honor and having a serious impact on the affected person.

Thus, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal and upheld the trial court’s judgment.




 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a habeas data action?
A legal action to require that inaccurate personal data be corrected or updated, under Law 25,326.

Why was the bank held liable?
Because it reported inaccurate data to the Central Bank about a person who was no longer the cooperative’s representative.

Is complying with the duty to report to the Central Bank enough?
No. The information must also be accurate and complete.