Right to Privacy and Personal Honor

The right to privacy is inherent to every individual, who in turn has the right to develop in an environment free from intrusions. In the Dominican Republic, this right is enshrined as a fundamental right in Article 44 of the Dominican Constitution, and further regulated by Law No. 172-13, which governs the exercise of this right. These two legal texts cover matters related to privacy, personal honor, reputation, individual correspondence, and the comprehensive protection of personal data stored in files, public records, databases, or other technical means used for data processing, whether in public or private sectors.

Law No. 172-13 applies to all personal data recorded in any database that makes them subject to processing, as well as any subsequent use of such data in both public and private domains. This law is of public order and applies throughout the national territory.

The law establishes specific exceptions to the data protection regime, including:
i) personal data files maintained by natural persons for purely personal or domestic activities;
ii) personal data files held by investigative and intelligence agencies of the Dominican Republic responsible for the prevention, prosecution, and punishment of crimes and offenses;
iii) personal data related to deceased individuals. However, relatives or those with a similar relationship may contact those responsible for such files to notify the death, providing adequate proof;
iv) data processing related to legal entities, or files that only contain basic professional information of individuals working for such entities, such as names, job titles, business addresses, emails, telephone numbers, and fax numbers.

The law also establishes that, whenever personal data is collected, the data subject’s consent must be obtained for its processing or subsequent transfer. Before obtaining consent, the data subject must be informed of:
i) the purpose of the data collection and the potential recipients or types of recipients;
ii) the existence of the file, registry, database, or other system involved, as well as the identity and address of the responsible party;
iii) the possibility for the data subject to exercise the rights of access, rectification, and deletion of the data.

In summary, the processing and transfer of personal data is unlawful unless the data subject has given free, express, and informed consent, which must be provided in writing or by any equivalent means, according to the circumstances.

Exempt from the consent requirement are all state investigative and intelligence agencies tasked with preventing, prosecuting, and punishing crimes and offenses, provided they have prior authorization from a competent judicial authority.

Anyone whose fundamental right to access and protection of personal data has been violated, as established in Article 44 of the Dominican Constitution and Law No. 172-13, is entitled to compensation for damages, in accordance with common law.