Data Warehouse

Habeas data (from Latin: ‘to have data present’) is a jurisdictional action specific to law, normally constitutional, that confirms the right of any natural or legal person to request and obtain existing information about their person, and to request its deletion. or correction if it is false or out of date.

This right applies to information stored in records or data banks of all types, whether in public or private institutions, and in computerized records or not.

The habeas data right can also cover the concept of the right to be forgotten, that is, the right to eliminate information that is considered obsolete due to the passage of time and has lost its usefulness.

In more specific terms, habeas data is an action that any citizen can take when their data is not valid, a debt that is not real, etc.

This right has been expanding and began to be regulated by both habeas data laws and personal data protection regulations, which usually have a procedural chapter describing the object of the habeas data action, passive and active legitimation, and the test and the sentence.

Control agencies have also been entrusted with monitoring the application of these habeas data regulations. 

In various countries, such as Colombia, Argentina, Spain, France, Germany, Canada, the United States, Belgium, Uruguay, among others, there are control bodies whose mission is to supervise the processing of personal data by companies and public institutions.

A declaration of personal files is also usually required to generate transparency about their existence.

With the rise of information technology in society and the use of large records of personal data, habeas data arises with the aim of preserving the right to privacy and honor of people. “  Habeas Data”  includes the possibility that any citizen has of accessing the records to know the personal data stored in them, in order to preserve fundamental rights such as privacy, intimacy, honor and reputation. 

Numerous Venezuelan authors carried out a study referring to article 28 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with the purpose of determining the protected rights and guarantees, thereby determining the purpose of habeas data. Habeas data is a right recognized in several countries such as Austria, France, Sweden, Chile, Germany, Colombia, Brazil among others; Being in Sweden where the First National Data Protection Law in the world was passed (1973). 

The legal basis of this habeas data institution is inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various international treaties. In turn, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights sets out the terms by which every citizen has a guarantee of access to information. about itself contained in a database or records (public or private) and the possibility of updating, rectifying, deleting or canceling it, if necessary. This action acquires even greater importance with the advancement of new technologies. In Venezuela, upon the entry into force of its Magna Carta, habeas data is officially included for the first time, as a figure that protects these personality rights; so that any person who is affected within their private sphere can take such action against the person responsible.  

The purpose of habeas data is to prevent the information contained in the data records related to the holders of the right filing the action from being known, when said information refers to aspects of personality that are directly linked to their privacy; This in turn presupposes that the confidentiality of certain legally obtained information is ensured to prevent its knowledge by third parties.

The right to computer freedom is the power that the individual has to access, know and control their personal information; This right seeks to protect her personal data. 

These rights have been a novelty within the constitutional guarantees but, it is thanks to the large number of web portals, programs and even social networks, that even when manipulated by each user, their misuse can violate the rights that habeas data seeks to protect. (intimacy, reputation, honor and privacy); which has given rise to the need to regulate access and manipulation of such information provided; This legal instrument allows the data in question to be managed quickly and urgently, to correct any falsehood that it may imply. 

It is a legal tool intended for the prevention and defense of people against any possible injury and to safeguard the good faith of the information.

By Stephany Ascanio M.