The controversial National Register of Mobile Telephony Users in Mexico (Panaut) will never see the light of day.
This Tuesday, the ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation have declared by majority vote the unconstitutionality of the creation of this registry.
Nine ministers have spoken out for the total invalidity of the decree and two expressed their partial rejection of the decree, which sought that all mobile phone users (new or existing) hand over their personal data, as well as biometric records, in order to have access to a line.
The unconstitutionality project, prepared by Minister Norma Piña Hernández, considers that this registry affects the rights to privacy, intimacy and protection of personal data and that it is not reasonable or a necessary legislative measure for the prosecution of extortion crimes through cell phones. , as argued by the Legislative Branch when it approved its creation in March 2021. "The information as a whole allows very precise conclusions to be drawn about a person's sphere of privacy," Piña explained during Tuesday's session.
The controversial register forced users to submit personal data such as name and address, as well as biometric records such as fingerprints or facial records, which were not specified in the decree.
The idea, according to the Morena legislators, promoters of this measure, was to contain the black market of cell phones that are used to extort money and commit other types of crimes, such as kidnapping.
One of the arguments argued by the nine ministers who supported the total annulment of this decree was the violation of the rights of privacy and the right to intimacy of mobile phone users in the country.
"There is no way to justify a massive collection of personal data by individuals and secondly, the treatment that can be given to them," said Javier Laynez when issuing his position in the plenary session of the court.
The lack of an order issued by a judge to access personal data in favor of the prosecution of crimes was another of the arguments defended by the ministers to declare its unconstitutionality.
"This approach presents us with a false and dangerous dichotomy between privacy and security, because paradoxically giving up control over the data represents a danger to the security of users," said Juan Luis González Alcántara.
For his part, the minister president, Arturo Zaldívar, was emphatic about the little use that this registry would have to contain the crimes of extortion in the country.
“It seems absurd that a person who has a cell phone is going to generate an extortion with a phone in his name, this never happens.
The system pretends that the obligations of the State are now the responsibility of individuals”, he indicated.
Additionally, Luis María Aguilar indicated that this register would hinder the human right to mobile communication.
“A person who cannot register directly undermines their access to communication.”
The Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT), the regulatory body for the sector in Mexico, as well as a group of senators dissatisfied with the creation of this registry, filed two appeals of unconstitutionality that raised not only the violation of fundamental rights, but also the difficulty of collect the data by the instances and the cost that its implementation would entail.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS Mexico
newsletter
and receive all the key information on current affairs in this country