Privacy and data protection in Latin America: Regulatory initiatives and collisions with the right to freedom of expression on the internet.

This article provides a comparative analysis of laws and bills on privacy and personal data protection submitted between 1997 and 2019 in eight Latin American countries—Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru—focusing on their regulatory trends and legislative challenges. It examines how these initiatives, while primarily addressing privacy concerns, may indirectly impact the exercise of freedom of expression in the digital environment, as framed by the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS). The study finds that most countries have enacted general data protection laws, though many are outdated and face challenges adapting to rapid technological changes; legislative activity is uneven across countries, with Argentina showing the most parliamentary initiatives. Additionally, the research highlights that few bills explicitly consider the dual role of freedom of expression or undergo specialized legislative scrutiny regarding their potential effects on this right, underscoring the need for more comprehensive, rights-based public debate and legislative processes that balance privacy protection with freedom of expression online.