Article 19 of Chile's Constitution secures for all persons: "Respect and protection for public and private life, the honor of a person and his family. The inviolability of the home and of all forms of private communication. The home may be invaded and private communications and documents intercepted, opened, or inspected only in cases and manners determined by law."[877]
Chile is the first Latin American country to enact a data protection law. The Law for the Protection of Private Life,[878] came into force on October 28, 1999. It has twenty-four articles, covering processing and use of personal data in the public and the private sectors and the rights of individuals (of access, correction, and judicial control). The law contains a chapter dedicated to the use of financial, commercial and banking data, and specific rules addressing the use of information by government agencies. It also includes fines and damages for the unlawful denial of access and correction rights. Only databanks in the government must be registered. The law was slightly amended in 2002[879] and modifies the Labor Code by providing that employers cannot condition hiring an employee to the lack of personal or economic debts.[880]
There is no data protection authority, and each affected person enforces the law individually. There is no case law yet interpreting the law. Another deficiency is that the law does not contain restrictions on transfers to third countries.
Chile's transition to democratic rule in 1990 did not eliminate personal privacy violations by government agencies. The Investigations Police - a plainclothes civilian agency that functions in close collaboration with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and with the intelligence services of the army, navy, and air force - keeps records of all adult citizens and foreign residents and issues identification cards that must be carried at all times.[881] The personal data compiled during military rule was never destroyed. In January 1998, former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet threatened to use "compromising information" from secret military intelligence files against those who were trying to keep him from becoming a Senator for Life, a position which would provide immunity from civil suits and public accountability for crimes which took place during his dictatorship.[882] Under current law, the voter registration list is publicly disclosed and used for direct marketing purposes. In 1999, the United Nations Human Rights Committee criticized the requirement that hospitals report all women who receive abortions.[883]
Under a 1995 law the collection of information by recording, wiretapping or other secretive means, is prohibited. Such surveillance may be conducted in narcotics-related cases upon the issuance of a judicial order.[884] In August 1996, the head of the Dirección de Inteligencia Policial (Dipolcar), the police intelligence service, was charged with authorizing a surveillance operation against the defense ministry official responsible for Carabineros, the militarized national police force. His resignation in disgrace allowed a greater role for the civilian security police, Investigaciones, in anti-drug operations.[885] In 1992, a surveillance center with 24-hour scanning devices was uncovered in downtown Santiago. It was run by an active army intelligence unit (DINE, incorporating former members of the secret police, the CNI) and, among other incidents, was found to have tapped into presidential candidate Sebastian Pinera's cellular phone[886] and taped the calls of President Patricio Aylwin.[887] The Army admitted to tapping telephones in order to comply with its mission, but reaffirmed that it "does not tap phones in an attempt to interfere with peoples' privacy."[888] The scandal provoked the retirement of General Ricardo Contreras, head of the Army Telecommunications Command.[889]
A 1996 privacy law sets penalties for those who infringe on the private and public life of individuals and their families. The privacy law has never been applied to the media.[890]
On April 2002, a Law on Electronic Documents, Electronic Signature and Electronic Signature Certification Services (the Law) was enacted. The law establishes that contracts and agreements entered into through the use of electronic signatures shall be equally valid and effective as those executed on paper.[891]
Chile signed the American Convention on Human Rights on August 20, 1990. Chile entered in October 2002 into a bilateral association agreement with the European Union (EU), by which the two parties agree on cooperating in the increase of the level of data protection on each other's sides.[892]