COVID-19 and its Impact on Personal Data

As a sign of the impact that COVID-19 has had, below we list the most important regulations and recommendations issued to date:

• The Agency of Access to Public Information published, on March 11, 2020,  recommendations for the processing of personal data in relation to COVID19, in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Law No. 25,326.
• Emergency Decree No. 260/2020, dated March 12, 2020, in  Article 8 establishes that people have the obligation to report symptoms compatible with COVID19 to health providers.
• Resolution No. 202/2020 of the Ministry of Labor, dated March 13, 2020, provides that employers must report to the national health authority any situation that falls within the scope of Article 7 of Emergency Decree No.  260/2020 (suspected or confirmed cases of COVID19).
• The Agency of Access to Public Information shared, on March 18, 2020, the guiding document of the Executive Committee of the Global Privacy Assembly on worldwide regulations on personal data protection, to collaborate in the challenge of addressing the advancement of the coronavirus and the exchange of health data. Eduardo Bertoni, Argentine´s Agency Director, is a member of the Global Privacy Assembly Executive Committee.
• Administrative Decision No. 431/2020 of the President’s Chief of Staff Office, dated March 22, 2020, authorizes each of the entities that make up the National Public Sector to transfer, assign, exchange or in any way make available the data and information that, because of their powers, missions and functions, are in their files or databases. This must be done in accordance with the technical and organizational measures that are necessary to guarantee security, confidentiality and processing to protect public health. This is based on the provisions of the Data Protection Law No. 25,326, which establishes that personal data may be transferred without the consent of the data subject when it is collected within the scope of the powers of the State when exercising its functions, and allows the possibility of carrying out mass transfers of personal data between State agencies directly, to the extent that it is done in compliance with their respective powers.
• Administrative Decision No. 432/2020 of the Ministry of Health, dated March 23, 2020, together with Provision No. 1771/2020 of the National Migration Directorate, made it mandatory for those who had returned to Argentina from abroad to adhere to and use the application known as COVID 19Ministry of Health to report symptoms of COVID-19. In the same line, Provision No. 1771/2020 implemented the Administrative Decision by establishing that those who return to the country must sign an affidavit acknowledging the existence of the app to detect COVID19. On the other hand, Resolution No. 99/2020 of the Governor’s Chief of Staff Office of the Province of Buenos Aires establishes that the information sent by the National Ministry of Internal Affairs, through the National Migration Directorate, with the purpose of contributing to the identification and location of people who may meet the status of “suspected case” of COVID19 infection, as well as those who have been in close contact with them, will be available to the Ministers of Health and Security and to the municipal authorities that require it.
• Resolution No. 48/2020 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, dated March 28, 2020, implements a unique instrument, called the “Unique Enabling Certificate for Circulation Emergency COVID-19”. Its article 3 states that “the necessary information exchanges will be carried out with public and private organizations and entities to corroborate the veracity of the data submitted at the time of processing the “Unique Enabling Certificate for Circulation - Emergency COVID-19”, requiring the consent of the applicant when appropriate within the framework of the provisions of Data Protection Law No.  25,326, as amended”.
• The Agency of Access to Public Information informs that administrative terms are suspended, in compliance with Decree No. 327/2020, dated March 31, 2020.
  However, on April 14, 2020, the Agency for Access to Public Information issued Resolution 70/2020, excluding from the suspension the requests for access to public information and proceedings regarding personal data protection.
• The Agency for Access to Public Information published on April 29, 2020, the data protection fundamental principles that apply to the use of geolocation and monitoring tools.
• The President’s Chief of Staff Office, through Provision 3/2020 dated May 5, 2020, published the creation of the “COVID19 Ministerio de Salud” database, which will store personal data collected by the “COVID-19 Ministerio de Salud” App.
• The President’s Chief of Staff Office, through Provision 4/2020, dated May 19, 2020, ordered the publication of the "Repository of Versions of the Terms and Conditions of the Application Cuid.AR (Covid19Ministry of Health, according to its previous name)".
• The Ministry of Human Rights and Justice published its Decalogue to operate safely on the Internet.
• The Agency for Access to Public Information shared on May 22, 2020, the statement of the Global Privacy Assembly regarding the measures that the States must adopt to monitor contacts through the tracking application.