New book presents innovative proposals for data governance in Latin America
The lack of regulatory uniformity not only increases operating costs for companies and governments, but also limits the benefits that could be enjoyed by everyone involved.

The book International Transfer of Personal Data in Latin America: Toward the Harmonization of Standards, the latest publication by the Rio de Janeiro Law School (FGV Direito Rio) and Lumen Juris Publishing, offers a detailed and accessible analysis of the regulatory challenges faced by the region to enable secure and sustainable data transfers. The work also proposes innovative solutions with the potential to transform data governance in Latin America.
One of the main obstacles addressed in the book is the fragmentation of personal data protection laws in the region. The lack of regulatory uniformity not only increases operational costs for businesses and governments but also limits the benefits that could be enjoyed by all stakeholders—from researchers to ordinary citizens. The authors propose strategies to promote legislative convergence, aiming to reduce disparities in personal data handling.
The book begins with an analysis of existing regulations in the most influential jurisdictions in Latin America—Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay—examining current mechanisms and presenting concrete proposals to improve international cooperation. Among the suggested solutions is the creation of a "Draft Inter-American Convention on Informational Self-Determination, Processing, and Circulation of Personal Data," which could be debated within Mercosur or other regional organizations.
The relevance of this topic is heightened by the recent recognition of informational self-determination as an autonomous human right by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in October 2023. This decision underscores the urgency of addressing data protection issues in the region, making this book a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the future of privacy in Latin America.
The research was conducted as part of the Data Regulations project by CTS-FGV, with contributions from Professor Luca Belli and an international team of experts, including Ana Brian Nougrères, Professor at the Universidad de Montevideo and UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy; Pablo Palazzi, Professor and Director of the Center for Technology and Society (CETyS) at the University of San Andrés, Argentina; Jonathan Mendoza Iserte, Secretary of Data Protection at the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information, and Personal Data Protection (INAI) in Mexico; and Nelson Remolina, Director of the GECTI Group at the Faculty of Law of the Universidad de Los Andes.
An initial version of the first chapter of the book was published in 2023 under the title Towards a Latin American Model of Adequacy for the International Transfer of Personal Data and received the Privacy Papers for Policymakers Award, sponsored by the Future of Privacy Forum, based in Washington, DC.
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