[537] Habeas data is a subcategory of the procedure enshrined in the Constitution for the protection of constitutional rights, therefore making the protection of personal data a fundamental, as well as directly applicable, right. See European Commission Decision pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Adequate Protection of Personal Data in Argentina, June 30, 2003, available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/privacy/docs/adequacy/decision-c2003-1731/decision-argentine_en.pdf.
[538] Constitucion de la Nacion Argentina (1994) http://www.constitution.org/cons/argentin.htm (in Spanish); http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/ar00000_.html (translation).
[539] "Urteaga c. Estado Nacional," Supreme Court of Argentina, October 15, 1998, 1-2 Derecho y Nuevas Tecnologías 193 (2000).
[540] This case was decided one month after a case where the Supreme Court denied a mother the right to access to information about her daughter, who had also disappeared during the military regime. In "Aguiar de Lapaco," the Court based its opinion in the principle of non bis in idem or guarantee against double prosecution (double jeopardy) because the right of access was used in criminal proceedings and the defendants were granted a presidential pardon. But the Court opinion was the object of strong political and scholarly criticism, and the high tribunal distinguished "Aguiar de Lapaco" from "Urteaga" since the last one was a civil case. Justice Boggiano's dissidence in "Aguiar de Lapaco" stated that habeas data could be used in the case to access to any kind of information held by government.
[541] "Ganora, Mario c/ Estado Nacional y otrs s/habeas corpus y habeas data," Supreme Court of Argentina, September 16 1999, 1-2 Derecho y Nuevas Tecnologías 229 (2000).
[542] Leander Case, 116 Eur. Ct. H.R. (ser. A) at 9 (1987).
[543] 418 United States 683 (1974).
[544] Law No. 25.326, available at http://www.ulpiano.com/Dataprotection_argentina.htm.
[545] European Commission Decision pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Adequate Protection of Personal Data in Argentina, supra. See also the Data Protection Working Party - Article 29, Opinion 4/2002 on Adequate Level of Protection of Personal Data in Argentina (WP 63). October 3, 2002, available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2002/wp63_en.pdf, which the European Commission took into account to make its decision.
[546] Approved by Decree No. 1558/2001.
[547] See Data Protection Working Party - Article 29, Opinion 4/2002 on Adequate Level of Protection of Personal Data in Argentina (WP 63). October 3, 2002, supra.
[548] "Halabi, Ernesto c/ Citibank NA s/amparo," CNCom, Sala C, 26/3/2002.
[549] "Becker, José c/Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires s/amparo," CNCom, Sala E, 15/5/2002, with a sounded opinion of the Attorney General (Fiscal de Cámara).
[550] Código Civil, Article 1071bis, incorporated by Law No. 21.173.
[551] Law No. 25.065 of December 7, 1998 (Official Bulletin of January 14, 1999).
[552] Credit Card Act, Article 53 ("Bar to inform. Credit Card entities, companies and banks and other financial entities shall not transfer information about credit card debts to credit report agencies when the data subject has not paid its debts or is having financial problems, without prejudice of personal data that must be transferred to the Central Bank under current regulations. Those who transfer this information to third parties shall be liable for the damages produced by the release of the personal data.")
[553] See Financial System Debtors Database "Central de Deudores del Sistema Financiero," regulated by the Central Bank Circular A 2729 (consolidated version by Circular 2930).
[554] Article 8.1, Central Bank Circular A 2729 (consolidated version by Circular 2930).
[555] Available at http://www.bcra.gov.ar and on CD-ROMs. The last CD-ROM contained a list with 1,950,000 individuals including data on their financial status.
[556] Código Penal de la República Argentina, Art 153-157 http://www.codigos.com.ar/penal/indice.htm.
[557] Criminal Court of Appeals in Buenos Aires (Sixth chamber), 4.3.99 "Lanata c. Dufau," in El Derecho, (E.D.), May 17, 1999.
[558] United Nations, 19th Annual Report of the Human Rights Committee, A/50/40, October 3, 1995.
[559] New York Times, June 10, 1996.
[560] Business Wire, September 12, 1996.
[561] "Pereyra, Leandro R. v. Servicios de Almacén Fiscal Zona Franca y Mandatos SA.," C. NAC. TRAB., sala 7ª, 27/3/2003.
[562] "V.R.I. c/ Vestiditos SA s/ despido," Jdo. Primera Instancia Laboral No. 12, 27/5/2002.
[563] See Lucas Guagnini & Jorgelina Vidal, "El Tema del Domingo - Control y Privacidad: Un Proyecto de 1.500 Milliones de Pesos," Diario Clarin, July 13, 2003, available at http://www.ulpiano.com/dataprotection_clarin.pdf.
[564] See Pablo Andrés Palazzi, El Derecho de Acceso a la Información Pública en la Ley No. 104 de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, 11 REDI- (June 1999), available at http://publicaciones.derecho.org/redi/index.cgi?/N%FAmero_11_-_Junio_de_1999.
[565] See La Nación, "Es de Difícil Cumplimiento la Ley de Acceso a la Información," July 11, 2000.
[566] See Janet Koven Levit, The Constitutionalization of Human Rights in Argentina: Problem or Promise? 37 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 281. See also Néstor Pedro Sagues, Judicial Censorship of the Press in Argentina, 4 Sw. J. of L. & Trade Am 45 (1997) (explaining the importance of understanding the make-up of both the Inter-American Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights because the Argentine Supreme Court relies on their opinions as a guide for interpreting personal rights issues).
[567] See Supreme Court, Fallos 324:975.
[568] See "Menem v. Noticias," Supreme Court, Fallos 324:2895.