New Draft Bills Seek to Penalize Identity Theft

Recently, a number of new draft bills which propose amending the Criminal Code in order to penalize identity theft were filed with the Argentine Congress.

A bill filed by congresswoman Burgos (Bill No. 3868-D-2018) on June 27, 2018, seeks to incorporate a Section 139 ter to the Criminal Code, in order to punish those who “impersonate or take over the digital identity of an individual without his or her consent, through their name, surname, photograph or image, or any other characteristic that unequivocally identifies the individual, using communication and information technologies, with the intent of committing a crime or causing damage to the person whose identity was taken or to third parties” with between 6 months and 2 years of imprisonment. The penalty would be of 1 to 4 years of imprisonment when this was sustained over time or caused the victim to alter his or her life plan, or when the identity belonged to a minor.

In addition, a bill proposed by senator Pichetto on July 19, 2018 (Bill No. S-2449/18) would introduce a new Section 138 bis to the Criminal Code. This section would impose a penalty of 1 month to 1 year of imprisonment, or a fine of ARS 20,000 to ARS 200,000, to those who “usurp the identity of a person through internet, social media, or any other virtual means”. The penalty would be of 6 months to 2 years of imprisonment or a fine of ARS 40,000 to ARS 400,000 if the victim is a public figure.

Furthermore, on August 1, 2018, senator Lovera presented another bill on this matter (Bill No. S-2630/18). This bill seeks the incorporation of a new Section 139 ter to the Criminal Code, which would impose a penalty of 6 months to 2 years of imprisonment to those who “without consent acquire or possess, transfer, create or use the identity of an individual or entity that does not belong to them, through internet or any electronic means, and with intent to damage, extort, defraud, slander or threated the owner of the identity or a third party, in order to benefit themselves or third parties”. The penalty would be of 1 to 4 years of imprisonment when this was sustained over time and attempted to be permanent, or when the identity belonged to a minor.

It is worth noting that there have been prior attempts to criminalize identity theft (for more information see Draft bill penalizes identity theft). The initiatives tend to share a concern for the increase in identity theft in Argentina and the lack of an adequate legislative response, as well as the fact that identity theft is often a tool to commit other more serious crimes.