In a recent ruling, the Administrative and Tax Court of Appeals of the City of Buenos Aires (CATyRC) overturned a lower court’s decision and upheld a habeas data action filed by a lawyer who requested the rectification of his personal data in a database maintained by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires (GCBA), where he was listed as a tax debtor, with an ongoing judicial procedure.
The disputed information referred to a debt related to the vehicle tax imposed on cars registered in the City, which had been obtained through an information request submitted by the City’s Revenue Agency (AGIP) to the National Registry of Motor Vehicles. The plaintiff argued that the debt was time-barred and denied the existence of any ongoing judicial proceedings concerning it.
On the one hand, the CATyRC confirmed that it is possible to declare the statute of limitations of a tax debt within the framework of a habeas data action, provided that the evidence on record clearly supports the claim and that the defendant has been afforded the opportunity to exercise its right of defense and submit evidence. On this basis, it concluded that the debt in question was indeed prescribed.
On the other hand, the CATyRC found that the information held by the GCBA constituted personal data and that, since it referred to a prescribed debt with no pending judicial proceedings (as the case had been dismissed due to procedural inactivity), it was no longer necessary, relevant, or up to date. Accordingly, the CATyRC applied the data quality principle set forth in Section 6 of Law No. 1845 of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, which requires the deletion of inaccurate data or data that is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.
In light of the above, the CATyRC upheld the habeas data claim and ordered the permanent deletion of the record linking the plaintiff to the time-barred tax debt.
Link to the ruling: D’ALESSANDRO, MAURICIO LONGIN CONTRA GCBA SOBRE HABEAS DATA
