On April 17, 2013, Mexico’s new Privacy Notice Guidelines will go into effect. The Guidelines impose extensive requirements for furnishing adequate data privacy notices and obtaining consent before personal data is collected directly from a person or electronically via “cookies,” “web beacons” or other automated means. The Guidelines are mandatory and particularly important to employers that regularly collect, process, and/or transfer personal data about employees or job applicants, and to companies operating or advertising in Mexico that use cookies, web beacons, and similar media technology that automatically collects personal data online. As shown in a recent decision by the Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection (“IFAI” for “Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos”), sanctions may be imposed for noncompliance.
