In brief
The Access to Public Information Agency has issued a communication establishing the criteria to be followed for the processing of personal data of individuals who have been vaccinated. Additionally, the agency highlighted the approach communicated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which states that governments must guarantee transparency when establishing the criteria used to determine priority recipients of the vaccine and also ensure that it is widely communicated to the population.
The agency presented the criteria, which divide the subjects’ data into three main categories:
- General vaccination data — This pertains to data of those vaccinated against COVID-19 according to the regulations issued by the Ministry of Health. They can only be published if data has been dissociated and unless the concerned individuals have given their informed consent stating otherwise.
- Public officials — Following Resolution 48/2018 of the agency, it is considered that the data of vaccinated officials is information of public interest because: (a) they have a lower expectation of privacy than other citizens; (b) the purchase of the vaccines was made with public funds; and (c) the citizenry must be able to control those who the Argentine state considers “strategic personnel.” Access to vaccination (in these cases) is not considered exclusively based on health considerations and because the individuals vaccinated are strategic personnel, protection awarded to sensitive data does not apply.
- Individuals who have accessed the COVID-19 vaccine outside of the Official Plan — Considering the health crisis, if someone has accessed the exceptional benefit of vaccination from the state outside of the regulations issued by the Health Ministry, the agency understands that it is a matter of public interest to know who irregularly accessed these goods, which are currently scarce. The need for this information to be public is greater than the potential individual harm caused to those vaccinated irregularly ̶ in accordance with the Law on Access to Public Information and the Law on Protection of Personal information. Citizen control (and hence access to this information) is only permitted if the information published is truthful, complete and timely published.
Click here for more information (only in Spanish).
Click here to access the Spanish Version.
