My Data, My Rights is an initiative promoted by TEDIC that was developed in a context of absence of a comprehensive and updated regulation on personal data protection in Paraguay. The project emerged from the need to establish clear rules that protect people’s identity in digital environments and regulate the processing of personal data, both in the public and private sectors.
The initiative was launched before the approval of the Personal Data Protection Law, with the aim of contributing to education and citizen empowerment, generating tools to understand what personal data is, why its protection is a right, and what the implications were of not having a specific regulatory framework. From a human rights perspective, the project seeks to bring these debates closer to citizens through accessible content grounded in the local reality.
Legislative Context
Until recently, Paraguay did not have a comprehensive personal data protection law, which created a scenario of institutional weakness in the face of the use, collection, and circulation of personal information. The recent approval of the Law No. 7593/2025 on Personal Data Protection marked a milestone in the country and is the result of sustained work by the Personal Data Coalition, a broad and plural civil society space that promoted and defended the bill over the years. In this process, the role of TEDIC was fundamental, providing research, technical and political advocacy, and a human rights perspective that decisively contributed to the construction and approval of the regulation.
However, the existence of a law does not by itself guarantee the effective exercise of the rights it recognizes. The implementation of the law, the strengthening of institutional capacities, and citizens’ access to clear and understandable information about this newly acquired right remain central challenges. In this scenario, My Data, My Rights provides inputs and tools aimed at fostering social appropriation of the right to data protection.
Materials produced within the project framework
As part of the project, TEDIC developed a series of four fanzines designed as pedagogical, visual, and freely circulating materials, addressing different aspects of personal data processing through everyday situations and concrete issues:
- SPAM: when our data circulates without consent
This fanzine addresses the sending of unwanted messages as one of the most common practices of misuse of personal data. It explains how companies access our information, what rights protect us against these practices, and why consent is a central principle in data protection. - Biometrics: my body as data
Through clear examples, this material problematizes the use of biometric data, such as facial recognition or fingerprints, and the risks involved when implemented without adequate safeguards, especially in surveillance and control contexts. - For a comprehensive personal data protection law
This fanzine serves an introductory role: it explains what personal data is, why its protection is a human right, and what Paraguay’s historical debts were in this matter, providing keys to understanding the importance of having a specific law. - The importance of protecting our sensitive health data
Focused on one of the most delicate types of data, this material highlights the risks associated with processing health data and the need for higher standards of protection, confidentiality, and responsibility.
These fanzines were accompanied by dissemination actions and public conversations, with the aim of expanding the reach of the content and generating critical reflection on how our data permeates multiple dimensions of social life.
My Data, My Rights is part of a key moment for Paraguay: we now have a recently approved law, but we face the urgent challenge of making it effective. On this path, the role of informed and organized citizens is fundamental.
From TEDIC, this project reaffirms our commitment to defending human rights in digital environments and to building a culture of data protection that places dignity, autonomy, and participation at the center. Because privacy is not a privilege or an abstract concept: it is a right that is learned, exercised, and collectively defended.
