On November 13, the Committee on Sovereignty, Integration and International Relations welcomed the Minister of Telecommunications, Andrés Michelena, and the National Director of the Public Data Registry, Lorena Naranjo. The officials explained the aims and achievements of the Personal Data Bill to the committee members, who will continue studying the text in the coming weeks.

Michelena said that the regulation was drafted together with the participation of all the different sectors, with the aim of guaranteeing the rights of all citizens and improving the digital ecosystem, business credibility as well as promoting economic progress and production.

He pointed out that the bill establishes a sanctions regime to foster the responsible treatment of public and private information, in order to advance with the creation of personal data handling culture with the idea of promoting transparency.

For her part, Naranjo mentioned that she considers it obligatory “to make public and private treatment institutions transparent” as long as information is protected through a specialized control mechanism to defend people’s rights.

The president of the Committee, Fernando Flores (CREO – allies), said that as “the State can not be a guarantor,” it should seek an independent mechanism to act as a control tool to avoid “citizens’ information being used against them.”