Argentine Registry of Data Bases - Reminder

Regulation No 2/2005 issued by the Argentine Direction of Personal Data Protection, under the Data Protection Law No 25,326, as regulated by Decree No 1558/2001, created the Argentine Registry of Data Bases (the “Registry”) (please see “Provision of the Argentine Registry of Data Bases” in Marval News # 37 of March 31, 2005).

The Registry will be implemented as from May 19, 2005 and registration will be mandatory for all private data files, registries, bases or banks intended to provide information, i.e. those whose use exceeds personal use only and/or are used to assign or transfer personal data (including any information referring to individuals or legal entities), whether the circulation of the relevant report or information is provided for valuable consideration or free of charge. Consequently, the duty to register with the Registry has been defined very broadly and if construed in the same way, it might extend to most companies doing business in Argentina, although the particular circumstances of each case must be carefully considered to determine whether the data bases are used “personally” or not.

Private data bases existing prior to the implementation of the Registry have a term of 180 calendar days to register, i.e. they shall register before November 15, 2005. Those created in the future shall register before the implementation thereof.