The Lain American Lawyer: March 2018 Latam_March 2018 | Page 8

News
Argentina seeking greater certainty for
investors with GDPR adoption
The country is also keen on finding opportunities in the data
economy
In 2018, Argentina will seek to
update its data protection laws in
a bid to bring its legislation into
line with European General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR), which
comes into force this May in the
European Union.
The revamped legislation is
expected to bring greater certainty to
investors, according to Pedro Mazer,
senior counsel at Alfaro Abogados in
Buenos Aires. This comes at a time
when the country is seeing renewed
interest from foreign investors due
to the success of the recent electric
power auctions as part of the
RenovAr program, which is aimed at
ramping up the country’s renewable
energy generation capacity, he says.
“Argentina is among the countries
in Latin America with the most
advanced laws, and therefore the
adoption of EU laws obeys the
country’s aim to remain at the
forefront of data privacy legislation,”
Mazer says, citing the fact that the
country’s data protection laws are
already in line with best international
practices, and that the adoption of
the EU legislation is “a logical step”
for the country.
Javier Etcheverry, a partner
Javier Etcheverry
Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal
at Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal in
Buenos Aires, agrees the adoption
of the GDPR is a step forward,
and a necessary one, in the use
of data-driven technology.“The
harmonisation of legislation in data
privacy allows for a more secure flow
of data among the countries that are
part of the convention,” he says.
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