Mexico's top court strikes down cellphone registry with biometric user data

Mexico
# 26 April 2022 07:33 (UTC +04:00)

Mexico's Supreme Court on Monday ruled a plan to create a national cellphone user registry with biometric data is unconstitutional, in a blow to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government which backed the measure, APA reports citing Reuters.

On the 11-member court, nine justices joined in invalidating the registry, which would include fingerprints or eye biometrics, on constitutional grounds, and two voted in favor of partial invalidation.

The initiative backed by lawmakers from Lopez Obrador's MORENA party was initially passed by the Senate in April 2021. It was billed as a tool to fight kidnapping and extortion by making it more difficult for criminals to remain anonymous when purchasing mobile phones.

The creation of the registry, known as Panaut, was suspended last year after facing legal challenges by organizations including Mexico's telecoms regulator, the IFT.

The justices argued that the registry would violate human rights and would not adequately safeguard sensitive data.

"The national registry of mobile phone users is not a necessary measure in a democracy, since it does not maintain a balance between the need for data in limited circumstances and the right to privacy," said Supreme Court Justice Norma Lucia Pina Hernandez.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED