On July 1, the Department of International Law (DIL) and the Inter-American Juridical Committee (CJI) participated in the VIII International Congress on the Protection of Personal Data organized by Colombia’s Superintendency of Industry and Commerce and the Ibero-American Data Protection Network (RIPD).

The purpose of the event was the exchange of opinions, experiences and recommendations of national and international experts in the protection of personal data on some of the most relevant issues that have the greatest impact on the subject, such as: international transfers of personal data and the use of contractual clauses to carry out such transfers; the CJI’s Updated Principles on Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data; the processing of data and biological samples in the field of biomedical and epidemiological research; and the promotion of strategies for the proper treatment of personal data in artificial intelligence projects.

During his presentation, the Director of the DIL, Dr. Dante Negro, in his capacity as Technical Secretariat of the CJI, referred to the development of the subject of the protection of privacy and personal data within the OAS, highlighting the Principles on Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data approved by the CJI in 2012, the Legislative Guide on the subject adopted by the CJI in 2015 and finally, the mandate conferred on the CJI in 2018 by the General Assembly of the Organization, directing it to undertake the updating of the Principles adopted in 2012, taking into account the evolution thereof.

Dr. Negro noted that the Updated Principles on Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data adopted by the CJI in April 2021 are a non-binding instrument that is the result of an extensive consultation process among Member States and some international organizations, and recalled that, at the request of the CJI, these Updated Principles will be submitted to the General Assembly for approval during its next regular session this coming November.

For her part, Dr. Mariana Salazar Albornoz, Member of the CJI and rapporteur for the subject of protection of personal data, referred in detail to the process of updating the Principles, noting that in addition to the consultations that were carried out, this work involved the exhaustive review and, in many cases, incorporation of concepts developed in instruments such as the Ibero-American Data Protection Standards, and the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union, among others. She also stressed that these Updated Principles include a cross-cutting gender perspective and an emphasis on humanitarian work and human rights.

The rapporteur then gave a general account of the content of each of the 13 Updated Principles, recalling that these are minimum standards that Member States can consider as part of their efforts to adjust their respective domestic systems to cutting-edge practices, policies and parameters at the international level.

» To view the Updated Principles on Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data click here.

» To view the DIL’s web page on the protection of personal data click here.