Naturaleza, contenido y alcance de la acción de habeas data en los registros de la Iglesia Católica.

Abstract

The general objective of this investigation was to the systematic analysis of the concept of personal data, its processing, and the scope of protection afforded by the constitutional remedy of habeas data, construed as a broad and comprehensive legal institution. As specific objectives included: (i) to provide a legal and doctrinal substantiation of the scope of application of the constitutional action of habeas data in relation to the sacramental records of the Catholic Church, which contain sensitive personal data, including information pertaining to family matters and religious beliefs; (ii) to examine the distribution of competences between the Catholic Church and Ecuador; (iii) to analyze the legal construct of apostasy and its civil law implications; (iv) to undertake a comparative review of the regulatory treatment of baptismal records of the Catholic Church under personal data protection frameworks in Spain and Argentina; and (v) to determine the corresponding ecclesiastical and civil legal implications. The investigation yielded as a result that parish sacramental registers perform the function of official ecclesiastical records, insofar as they document facts relating to the canonical status of the faithful. Accordingly, Ecuador is bound to recognize the continued validity and legal effects of the international treaty Modus Vivendi, by virtue of which ecclesiastical autonomy is upheld in matters inherent to the Catholic Church, including the registration and maintenance of sacramental records, without interference or intervention by judicial authorities for the purposes of erasure, modification, or cancellation of such data.