Damages Cannot Be Claimed Together With an Habeas Data

In the case “La Rocca, Vicente José c/ Cencosud S.A. s/ Habeas Data (Art. 43 CN)”, the plaintiff had filed an “habeas data and a claim for damages under the terms of Law No. 25326 and section 43 of the Argentine Constitution” against Cencosud S.A. The first instance court dismissed the claim for moral damages, understanding that the plaintiff had not chosen the correct remedy, given the particular nature of the writ of habeas data. The plaintiff appealed.

Upon appeal, the First Chamber of the Commercial Court of Appeals in the City of Buenos Aires upheld the decision of the first instance court. The Chamber especially highlighted that the purpose of the Data Protection Law No. 25326 is, among others, to ensure data subjects’ rights to access, rectify, update, and delete data, in accordance with the provisions of section 43 of the Argentine Constitution. In fact, the protection in section 43 paragraph 3 of the Argentine Constitution "lies in preserving the peace of mind of individuals and in preventing the perpetuation of ambiguous or uncertain legal situations, undermining the right to not be unfairly disturbed".

Hence, the Chamber held that claims for damages fall outside the scope of the Data Protection Law No. 25326, and are therefore incompatible with the purposes envisaged by the legislator when creating the writ of habeas data, noting that this does not mean the plaintiff cannot file a separate claim for the damages that considers entitled to.