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Published
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
President to testify about his data unit By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Deputies of the Legislative Assembly have asked President Carlos Alvarado to outline the work done in the controversial Presidential Unit for Data Analysis. According to the deputies, the explanations given by Víctor Morales-Mora, minister of the Presidency, Monday were not enough to clarify doubts about the legality of that unit of analysis. In addition to President Alvarado, the deputies will call at least seven top government executives, including: - Rodolfo Piza, former minister of the Presidency. - Pilar Garrido, minister of Planning. - Catalina Crespo, ombudsman. - Walter Espinoza, director of the Judicial Investigation Organization. - Luis Fernando Salazar-Muñoz, a legal advisor to the presidency. - Diego Fernández-Montero, Alejandro Madrigal-Rivas and Andrés Villalobos-Villalobos, three of the analysts who worked directly with the databases with information on citizens. Deputies are expected to specify soon the dates when the president and the other executives will be called to testify. Lawmaker and other officials have questioned the legality of setting up the statistical unit in the first place. But there also are concerns about government officials being able to gather personal data on citizens from the files of other government institutions. Morales has said that the data collected did not contain names and other sensitive personal information, but still unclear is exactly what the purpose of gathering the information was and how it was used.  Morales had to explain to the full legislature Monday his views about the legality of the creation of that unit for the analysis of civilian information. To the question of who put forth the idea of creating this unit to investigate civilian information, Morales replied that “a group of data analysis consultants promoted the needs of different institutions for products and results to work on bringing benefits for citizenship.” According to Morales, it will be the responsibility of the Courts of Justice to say if the creation and development of that unit violated of the Constitution because, in his opinion, there has not been a violation. The Constitution addresses privacy. Morales told lawmakers that the special unit never had access to civilian data such as credit card information, salaries, bank accounts, judicial or medical background or of a fiscal or banking nature. Lawmakers met in an unusual extraordinary session to hear the minister. "There were no telephone interventions, surveillance cameras, or instant messaging interventions," Morales said. According to Morales, "exaggerations, speculations, suspicions and lies have been made," which he said "served so that the differences rooted in society will contaminate a debate." "We recognized that it was a mistake not to explain in advance and sufficient work mechanisms to make clear absolute respect for everyone's privacy," Morales said. The disclosure that the president set up a special data collection unit became top news last week when the attorney general authorized a search of the Presidential House along with another ministry and some private homes. The president and seven aides are facing possible crimes that have been listed as a personal data breach, abuse of authority and prevarication. The legal term prevarication or perverting the course of justice is a crime that consists of an authority issuing an arbitrary resolution in an administrative or judicial matter knowing that said resolution is unfair and contrary to the law. According to the government, the creation of the Presidential Unit for Data Analysis had the goal of helping with policy setting and decision making. On the same day of the searches, the legal adviser, Salazar-Muñoz, resigned his job at Presidential House. He was involved in creating the decree that Alvarado used to create the unit. The decree, too, is controversial. According to the government, Salazar-Muñoz will continue his duties, ad-honorem, as a presidential commissioner for LGBTIQ population issues. LGBTQ stands for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and those who are questioning their sexual identity. Some have said that the unit operated in secret, something that the government has denied vigorously. According to the government, since March 2019 both the analyzers and the results of their work were presented publicly, on several occasions. The government insisted that "The data analysis team never operated in secret." "On the contrary, their profile was public, their products were posted on the Internet promptly, and it was formally presented to representatives of different sectors of society and public administration institutions," said the government in a public post on social media. The Defensora de los Habitantes, the nation's ombudsman had issued a negative report on the data unit, including allegations that the vehicle fleet of the U.S. Embassy has been under surveillance. Social media also has weighed in on the situation, sometimes with unsupported allegations. Friday, the day of the searches, Alvarado said, "I understand that it is the way in which our democratic institutionality can make the truth known and give citizens confidence." He said in a video. "This issue must follow its due process. It is our will, desire and duty to expedite it." Attorney General Emilia Navas was present at the search on the Presidential House, which lasted until Friday night. The search at the Ministry of Planning began on Friday and finished on Saturday. Judicial agents seized computers, cell phones and documents for the case. Among the confiscated cell phones are the cell phone and computer assigned to Alvarado and the cell phone assigned to Morales. According to the investigation, the data unit had been working since May 2018. For more than a year and eight months, Madrigal, Villalobos and Fernández served as data consultants for that department. "It is alleged that they formed a government unit to compile and analyze data for the alleged execution of public policies, apparently without any legal backing," said prosecutors in a statement. This group sought personal and sensitive data of citizens from different institutions, and Alvarado was aware of this, according to the prosecutor. According to the Prosecutor's Office, Alvarado, and his two ministers, Morales and Daniel Soto-Castro, vice minister of Planning, issued a decree to continue developing this activity, although they knew that they were breaking the law. Given the controversy created by this decree, a few hours later, the president said that he had revoked the decree and with it, the data analysis unit. The Ombudsman's Office said that the main findings of its investigation were that the decree to create that special unit was contrary to the legal system by not complying with the procedure since it lacked technical studies and expert consultation on data protection. In the decree, there were no guidelines following the data protection law that include data identification, security and custody of the data obtained, the ombudsman said, adding that Article 7 of that decree could be illegal or unconstitutional, which made the unit inadmissible from the legal point of view. Article 8 of the decree anticipated hiring data protection or cybersecurity expert, but this was not done, the office added. The Ombudsman's Office concluded that the advisors who worked on the data analysis for 18 months at the Presidential House performed their duties without legal support to justify their scope, limitations and responsibilities. Likewise, that team did not have the technological and infrastructure resources required to perform the tasks, which made them a de facto and not a legal organization, it added. Alvarado, in the face of the controversy, said he ordered an investigation into the process of preparing the decree that he and his key authorities created and annulled. According to the government, the investigation "will be directed by the lawyer, Carlos Elizondo-Vargas, secretary of the Governing Council." ----------------------------------- Have you heard of cases of illegal use of civilian data by the government authorities of your country? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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