Panama's data protection law includes a specific exemption for certain government activities related to law enforcement and criminal justice. The law explicitly states that data processing activities "carried out by competent authorities for the purposes of prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties" are excluded from the scope of Law No. 81.

This exemption is narrower than those found in some other jurisdictions, as it specifically focuses on criminal justice activities rather than providing a blanket exemption for all government data processing. The provision aims to strike a balance between protecting individual privacy rights and enabling effective law enforcement and criminal justice operations.

The exemption applies to "competent authorities," which likely includes police forces, prosecutors, courts, and other agencies involved in the criminal justice system. However, the law does not provide a specific definition of "competent authorities," which may leave room for interpretation.

Data processing by government agencies for purposes outside of these specific criminal justice activities would still be subject to the provisions of Law No. 81.

Implications

The implications of this exemption for businesses and other organizations are significant:

1. Law enforcement cooperation: Organizations may need to provide personal data to law enforcement agencies for criminal investigations without being constrained by the usual data protection requirements.
2. Dual-purpose data processing: Government agencies that process personal data for both criminal justice and non-criminal justice purposes may need to apply different standards to different datasets or processing activities.
3. Data subject rights: Individuals may have limited rights to access, rectify, or delete their personal data when it is being processed for criminal justice purposes by competent authorities.
4. Data transfers: The exemption may facilitate the transfer of personal data between law enforcement agencies and other organizations for criminal justice purposes, potentially including cross-border transfers.
5. Private sector involvement: Companies providing services to law enforcement agencies or involved in criminal justice activities may need to carefully consider which of their data processing activities fall under this exemption and which remain subject to the full scope of Law No. 81.