The Contribution of International Human Rights Law to the Protection of Privacy: The Case of Mexico =La Contribución del Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos a la Protección de la Privacidad: el Caso de Méxic

This thesis examines the contribution of international human rights law to the protection of privacy. It poses the question of whether or not international human rights law can compensate for the limitations that other areas of law have in the protection of privacy with respect to the mandatory collection, retention, use or disclosure of personal information carried out by states. The thesis argues that international human rights treaties and jurisprudence offer principles, frameworks and an individual entitlement that can be applied in domestic jurisdictions to protect the private lives of individuals from abuses of power by states through data processing. To test its argument, the thesis uses Mexico as its case study. Several factors make Mexico an especially useful jurisdiction for this purpose. A right to privacy is not explicitly included in the Mexican legal order and the judiciary has yet to develop privacy jurisprudence. Following a 2011 constitutional amendment, Mexico opened its legal system to international human rights law, incorporating into the national bill of rights those human rights included in international treaties. Mexico offers an excellent opportunity for examining what international human rights law can offer in the protection of privacy of individuals with respect to the mandatory data processing carried out by the state. The thesis demonstrates that the right to privacy included in international human rights treaties has been understood by authoritative interpreters as implying other important principles such as legality, necessity and proportionality. In the Big Data era, where state surveillance is taking on new dimensions, these principles are crucial for the protection of privacy. By showing how the international human rights law on privacy can be received within Mexican law, this thesis shows that the private lives of individuals can be protected from abuses of power committed by the state via data processing.