IGF 2017 WS #113 Emerging challenges for data protection in Latin American countries

Session Format: Round Table - 90 Min

Proposer:
Country: Brazil
Stakeholder Group: Technical Community

Co-Proposer:
Country: Brazil
Stakeholder Group: Technical Community

Speaker: Carolina Botero
Speaker: Martin Borgioli
Speaker: Alejandro Pisanty
Speaker: Romina Garrido
Speaker: Danilo Doneda

Content of the Session:
The workshop aims at discussing the challenges for the regulation of personal data protection in Latin America and identifying solutions and innovations developed in the different countries in an exercise that can feedback into the ongoing regulatory discussions in the region. Besides dealing with traditional data protection issues such as (i) the concept of personal and anonymous data; (ii) consent and other legal bases for data processing; (iii) international transfer of personal data; (iv) data protection authority, etc., the workshop will discuss – from a regional perspective – emerging topics such as (i) privacy by design; (ii) the right to be forgotten; (iii) algorithm accountability; and (iii) the complexity inherent to data flows exchange between private and public entities in processing personal data. Such an approach is suggested as a way of shifting the focus of the debates on the topic from the perspective of the Western European countries and the United States to a Latin American one, in an attempt to broaden the discussion and include the particular challenges of developing countries and young democracies, in a moment in which data protection has become centerpiece of the policy agenda. The general outline of the session includes a high level presentation of the regional situation regarding data protection and will be followed by two rounds of short interventions from invited commentators that will delve into particular realities and concrete cases from selected countries. The floor will be opened for the interventions of interested participants from the audience, who will help understanding the regional context and pointing to best practices and ways forward to advance the regulatory efforts on data protection.

Relevance of the Session:
In the past years, data protection has increasingly become a central Internet governance issue. Despite being in the agenda of several IGFs, the subject has gained more relevance and nuances that go from privacy and security issues to freedom of expression and information ones. The advance of new technologies that allow the processing of greater amounts of personal data and the emergence of the so-called Internet of Things (sometimes associated to initiatives on “smart cities”) have at the same time increased the power and information asymmetry between companies and users (and sometimes even between companies and States) and the challenges for data protection regulation.

The Latin American context regarding data protection is diverse: according to the DLA Piper’s Data Protection Laws of the World Handbook, most countries in the region have a moderate level of protection. That is the case, for instance, of Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. Brazil, Honduras and Venezuela, on the other hand, are classified as having a limited protection, while Argentina is the only country classified as having a robust level of protection in the region.

Despite the relevance of the topic for Latin American countries, international debates on data protection, especially in the regulatory field, have had a strong focus on the tensions between the policy orientations of European countries and the United States. The innovation of this workshop will be to gather key actors in a multistakeholder perspective to discuss the challenges of data protection from a regional point of view, trying to identify its particularities, as well as solutions and best practices that emerge in specific contexts. The discussion is timely considering that several countries in the region are discussing either the adoption of comprehensive personal data protection laws (e.g. Brazil, Ecuador, etc.) or the modernization of their existing frameworks (e.g. Argentina, Chile, Mexico, etc.). In this sense, it can at the same time receive inputs and contribute to local debates on the subject. The session was also designed to have a pedagogical character by providing clarification to local stakeholders on the role and limits of data protection and to advance in identifying and preventing setbacks in freedom of expression and access to information – a common fear in a region that has historically been marked by several authoritarian regimes.

Any serious discussion about “our digital future” should take into account the role of big data and the impacts of the processing of immense amounts of personal information collected by private and state agents. Considering that a great part of the “next billion” users to be connected to the Internet are located in the developing world (especially Africa and Latin America), it is crucial to reframe the discussions on data protection to assure that the future of the new “digital citizens” includes safeguards and the respect for their human rights.

Tag 1: Data protection
Tag 2: Human Rights
Tag 3: Internet Economy

Interventions:
The proposed format will allow the interaction of several invited experts that represent distinct countries, sectors and visions towards the challenges and opportunities for data protection in Latin America. There will be two moderators that will make a quick introduction of the session and who will be followed by a keynote from a representative from an intergovernmental organization. A first round of interventions will be introduced by the moderators with an orienting question about the situation of data protection in selected countries of the region (Argentina, Brazil and Mexico). After this first round of quick presentations, the members of the roundtable that did not present comments will answer moderator’s questions on specific cases from their countries (Chile, Colombia and Peru). Finally, the floor will be opened for the interventions and questions of the participants in the audience, who will be able to bring their concerns and cases and interact with all panelists that then will give their final considerations. Bellow is a preliminary list of proposed moderators and participants indicating the ones that are still to be confirmed.

Moderators:
Carolina Aguerre, female, Argentina, University of San Andres, academia (TBC)
Danilo Doneda, male, Brazil, UERJ, academia (provisionally confirmed)

Introduction (keynote):
Edison Lanza, male, Uruguay, OAS, intergovernmental organization (TBC) or
Frank La Rue, male, Guatemala, Unesco, intergovernmental organization (TBC)

First round:
Alejandro Pisanty, male, Mexico, technical community (provisionally confirmed)
Orlando Silva, male, Brazil, Congressman, government (TBC)
Eleonora Rabinovich, female, Argentina, Google, private sector (provisionally confirmed)

Second round:
Carolina Botero, female, Colombia, Fundación Karisma, civil society (provisionally confirmed)
Romina Garrido, female, Chile, Datos Protegidos, civil society (provisionally confirmed)
Martin Borgiolli, male, Peru, Hiperderecho, civil society (provisionally confirmed)

Instead of long interventions from few speakers, the workshop will be organized in three “rounds” and the time of the interventions by each panelist is planned to be as short as possible (5’ each and 10’ to the representative of the intergovernmental organization). This format will assure broad participation of representatives from several countries in the region in order to identify the current situation of Latin America with regards to data protection and the main concerns each country presents. And still reserve enough time for the audience and online participants to intervene. Each moderator will guide one “round” of the discussion, to add more dynamics to the conversations.

Diversity:
The diversity of the workshop is assured from the selection of moderators: two moderators, from both genders, different countries and different stakeholder groups. The first round of interventions will have representatives from different countries and stakeholder groups presenting their views on the situation of data protection in their countries. Although they bring a specific perspective about each country’s process, the overall diversity of policy views on data protection represented by the different participants in the general discussion will provide balance to the eventual narrow scope of those presentations. The second round of interventions, despite bringing only representatives from civil society, includes gender and country diversity. Its goal is to bring cases and examples from other countries in very short interventions. The speakers of this round were selected due to the specific work they have been doing in the field (e.g. research about the observation of data protection rules by private companies, litigation on specific cases related to data protection, etc.). The keynote from a high level representative from an intergovernmental organization active in Latin America is expected to take into account the diversity of the region.

Onsite Moderator: Carolina Aguerre (TBC) and Danilo Doneda (provionally confirmed)
Online Moderator: Diego Canabarro
Rapporteur: Jamila Venturini and Bruno Bioni

Online Participation:
Online participation and interaction will rely on the WebEx platform. Those joining the session using WebEx (either invited members of the round-table or the general audience) will be granted the floor in the Q&A segment of the workshop. People in charge of the moderation will strive to entertain onsite and remote participation indiscriminately. Social media (twitter and facebook) will also be employed by the online moderator who will be in charge of browsing social media using some hashtags (to be defined).

Discussion facilitation:
The discussion will be facilitated by the onsite moderators who will guide the debate in each of the proposed “rounds” for the workshop as well as during the Q&A and comments session. Having two moderators will facilitate the control of time, which will be very important for the proper functioning of the workshop. The online moderator will make sure the remote participants are represented in the debate.

Conducted a Workshop in IGF before?: Yes
Link to Report: http://friendsoftheigf.org/assets/Uploads/MainSessionYouthPioneersReport-20161215.pdf