New IPANDETEC Report Shows Panama’s ISPs Still Lag in Protecting User Data

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Telecom and internet service providers in Panama are entrusted with the personal data of millions of users, bearing a responsibility to not only protect users’ privacy but also be transparent about their data handling policies. Digital rights organization IPANDETEC has evaluated how well companies have lived up to their responsibilities in ¿Quien Defiende Tus Datos? (“Who Defends Your Data?”) reports released in 2019, 2020, and 2022, which showed persistent deficiencies.

IPANDETEC’s new Panama report, released today, reveals that, with a few notable exceptions, providers in Panama continue to struggle to meet important best practice standards like publishing transparency reports, notifying users about government requests for their data, and requiring authorities to obtain judicial authorization for data requests, among other criteria.

As in its prior reports, IPANDETEC assessed mobile phone operators Más Móvil, Digicel, and Tigo. Claro, assessed in earlier reports, was acquired by Más Móvil in 2021 and as such was dropped. This year’s report also ranked fixed internet service providers InterFast Panama, Celero Fiber, and DBS Networks.

Companies were evaluated in nine categories, including disclosure of data protection policies and transparency reports, data security practices, public promotion of human rights, procedures for authorities seeking user data, publication of services and policies in native languages, and making policies and customer service available to people with disabilities. IPANDETEC also assessed whether mobile operators have opposed mandatory facial recognition for users’ activation of their services.

Progress Made

Companies are awarded stars and partial stars for meeting parameters set for each category. Más Móvil scored highest with four stars, while Tigo received two and one-half stars and Digicel one and a half. Celero scored highest among fixed internet providers with one and three-quarters stars. Interfast and DBS received three-fourths of a star and one-half star, respectively.

The report showed progress on a few fronts: Más Mó

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