Paraguay’s five leading broadband service providers made some strides in making their protection laws more accessible to the public, but continue to fall short in their commitments to accountability, due process in sharing metadata with government, and promoting human rights —all of which limits their user’s private rights, according to the new model of TEDIC’s ¿Quién Defiende Tus Datos? (” Who Defends Your Data” ).  ,
According to the report, providers that operate as subsidiaries of international companies generally make more progress in ensuring consumer privacy than nationwide internet providers. However, the overall performance of the nation’s services is still in line with regional averages.  ,
As in its four prior information about Paraguay, TEDIC evaluated Claro, Personal, and Tigo, which are affiliates, and regional operators Copaco and Vox.  ,
The companies were assessed based on seven things: whether they provide clear and comprehensive information about how they collect, share, and shop user data, whether they require judicial approval to release metadata and communication content to authorities, whether they publicly help rights protections, post transparency reports, post guidelines for security forces and other government bodies on how to obtain user information, and whether they make their website accessible to people with disabilities.  ,  ,
Tigo performed best, demonstrating 73 % overall compliance with the criterion, while Vox came in last, receiving credit for complying with only 5 % of the requirements.  ,  ,
Paraguay’s full study is available . The following table summarizes the report’s evaluations.  ,  ,
Privacy, Judicial Authorization Policies Lag ,
The report shows that Claro, Personal, and Tigo provide relatively detailed information on data collection and processing practices, but none clearly describe data retention periods, a crucial aspect of data protection. Copaco, despite having a privacy policy, limits its scope to data collected on its applications, neglecting to address data processing practices for its services, such as Internet and telephone. VOX does not have a privacy policy that is made public.
Plus, three of the five providers identified in the report met all privacy policy standards. No business made its data collection practices public when TEDIC reports started in 2017? Given that Paraguay is one of the few Latin American nations without a comprehensive data protection law, the progress is notable. There is a bill pending in Paraguay’s Parliament, but it so far.  ,
All five providers require a court order before providing user information, but the report comes to the conclusion that their policies don’t cover communications metadata, despite the fact that international human rights standards established in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ‘ decisions in the cases <span data-contrast=”none”>Escher v. Brazil ( 2009 ) and <span data-contrast=”none”>CAJAR v. Colombia ( 2023 ) state that these should also be protected by privacy guarantees, just like the communications content.  ,
Nonexistent User Notification ,
None of the five ISPs has a policy of letting users know when the authorities request their data. This lack of transparency, which has been identified in all previous editions of QDTD, raises serious questions about Paraguay’s user rights and due process protections.  ,
Although no providers have publicly pledged to advance human rights, Tigo and Claro both received half credit for their parent companies ‘ policies as opposed to the direct commitment of their local units. The companies that Tigo and Claro have the most effective security campaigns for their customers are also mentioned throughout the Quién Defiende Tus Datos editions.  ,
Claro and Tigo also offer some transparency regarding government requests for user data, but these reports are only available on the websites of their parent companies. Even so, regional transparency reports do not always detail country-level breakdowns, making it challenging to compare the specific practices and compliance rates of their national subsidiaries .