Ley 81 de 2019, Sobre Protección de Datos Personales
Ley No. 81 de 26 de marzo de 2019, Sobre Protección de Datos Personales, Gaceta Oficial No. 28743-A
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 29 March 2021.
A comprehensive regime rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 5 September 2026.
What it requires
- Obtain consent, or another lawful basis under the Law, before processing a person's data, and do not process it beyond the purpose for which it was collected.
- Do not subject a person to a decision based solely on automated processing of their personal data that produces a negative legal effect or a detriment to a right, unless they consented, the decision is necessary to perform a contract, or a special law authorizes it.
- Do not transfer sensitive data internationally unless the data subject has given explicit authorization or a narrow statutory ground applies.
- Before transferring personal data abroad, obtain the data subject's consent or confirm the receiving country or organization provides an equivalent or superior level of protection.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
Administrative fine per infraction, graduated by ANTAI according to the infraction's gravity (leve, grave, muy grave); a very grave infraction may also carry closure of the database's registries or suspension of the processing activity.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 5 September 2026
- Minimum
- 1,000
- Currency
- PAB
- Fixed cap
- 10,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Autoridad Nacional de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información (ANTAI)
What it reaches
Obligation class
Consent, Data subject rights, Transfer, Security, Governance
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 1 sets the Law's object as the principles, rights, obligations and procedures governing personal-data protection. Article 1's second paragraph lets any natural or legal person, public or private, for-profit or not, process personal data provided it does so under the Law and for permitted purposes. Article 2 lists nine governing principles, including loyalty (no deceptive or fraudulent collection), purpose limitation, proportionality, veracity, security, and portability.
Article 11 defines a sensitive datum as one touching a person's intimate sphere or whose misuse could cause discrimination or a serious risk, naming racial or ethnic origin and religious, philosophical and moral beliefs among the enumerated examples. Article 13 bars transferring sensitive data except with the data subject's explicit authorization or on narrow statutory grounds.
Article 19 gives a data subject the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on the automated processing of their personal data that produces a negative legal effect or a detriment to a right, where the decision evaluates aspects of personality, health, job performance, creditworthiness, reliability or conduct, unless the subject consented, the decision is necessary to perform a contract, or a special law authorizes it.
Article 33 makes an international transfer of personal data lawful if at least one of several conditions is met, including the data subject's consent or the receiving country or organization providing an equivalent or superior level of protection. ANTAI, with the support of the Autoridad Nacional para la Innovación Gubernamental on information-technology matters, supervises compliance.
Article 47 provides that the Law takes effect two years after its promulgation, and the Law's Gaceta Oficial publication date of 29 March 2019 places that entry into force on 29 March 2021. Decreto Ejecutivo No. 285 de 2021 develops the Law's implementation in coordination with ANTAI and states in its own recitals that this deferred entry into force took effect on 29 March 2021.
When LexLint raises it
high_risk_decisionsautomated_outreach
Read the law
Official Legispan text of Ley 81 de 2019, Asamblea Nacional de Panamá