Federal jurisdiction in connection with databases that may be accessed through the Internet

The facts of the case are as follows: The plaintiff filed a habeas data action against Garbarino S.A. and Equifaz Veraz seeking the deletion and update of certain personal data referring to her credit standing (In re “Gonzalez, Julieta Flavia v. Garbarino S.A. re/ Amparo”, Docket. No. 32.823/2015).

The lawsuit was filed before the National District Court in Commercial Matters No. 23, which rejected competence in the case and ruled that the National First Instance Justice on Civil Matters should assume jurisdiction over the case.

In turn, the Court of Appeals on Commercial Matters confirmed the district court’s decision regarding  lack of jurisdiction, but attributed jurisdiction to the Federal courts in Civil and Commercial Matter.

In so deciding, the Court of Appeals quoted its own precedents in previous cases which ,following the criteria of the Supreme Court of Justice, provided that —pursuant to section 36 of the Personal Data Protection Law No. 25,326— Federal Justice has jurisdiction over disputes concerning databases that are interconnected with national or international interjurisdictional networks (Argentine Supreme Court of Justice, "Bini Olazabal Carlos O. v. Organización Veraz SA re/ habeas data”; Division F, "Alloro Ariel Rodrigo v. Citibank NA re/ amparo", decision dated 9/05/2013).

In that regard, the Court of Appeals determined that the database owned by one of the defendants suits the definition provided by section 36 of the Personal Data Protection Law as it can be accessed through “computer networks”, following the position determined by the law.