A Provincial Supreme Court Ruling Recognizes the Right to Be Forgotten

The claimant filed an “habeas data” action against the Police of Salta requesting the erasing of certain criminal records. Said records were criminal charges occurred more than thirty years ago which did not receive a conviction.  The plaintiff alleged the data had a negative impact on his employment opportunities.

The lower court's decision rejected the habeas data action as it did not meet the admissibility requirements. Thus, it was held that a judicial warrant issued by the authority where the case was processed was required. Furthermore, it stated that the Salta Police is not a public or private data database, but a criminal records registry, and in that capacity,  in the absence of a judicial warrant, it could not be sued.

In turn, the Supreme Court of Justice of Salta admitted the appeal, overturned the ruling, and ordered the Criminal Records Division of the Province of Salta to refrain from informing about certain criminal records from the claimant. In so deciding, it held the following:

• The habeas data action proceeds in cases where it is presumed that the information is false, inaccurate, or outdated. Likewise, if the personal data is totally or partially inaccurate, it must be deleted and replaced, or if necessary, completed, by the data controller when he/she becomes aware of such inaccuracy.
• That, although the registration of criminal records allows control and evaluation of conducts by the judicial authorities, the processing of these data is subject to some limitations.
• That article 23 of the Personal Data Protection Law recognizes the right to be forgotten with respect to personal data recorded for police purposes, since it establishes that they must be deleted when they are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were collected.