Chile: passenger data record

Data protection laws

Ley 19.628 was promulgated on 18 August 1999 and published on 28 August 1999 ¹. The original text set up no dedicated authority ¹. People enforced their rights through the civil courts, and the Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación kept a register of public bodies' databases (article 22) ¹. Article 20 lets public bodies process personal data within their legal powers without consent ¹.

Ley 21.719 was promulgated on 25 November 2024 and published on 13 December 2024 ². It creates the Agencia de Protección de Datos Personales, which keeps a national register of sanctions and compliance ². Under its first transitory article, the amendments to Ley 19.628 take effect on the first day of the 24th month after publication ².

• Biometric data, such as fingerprints, iris and face, are sensitive data (article 2 and article 16 ter) ².
• Public bodies may process data for their legal functions without consent and may share it with other public bodies when needed for those functions (articles 20 and 22) ².
• Controllers must take security measures such as pseudonymisation and encryption and report security breaches to the agency (articles 14 quinquies and 14 sexies) ².
• Data subjects must be told of transfers to third countries and whether those countries offer adequate protection (article 14 ter) ².

The API/PNR law

Ley 21.792 was promulgated on 12 January 2026 and published on 19 January 2026 by the Ministerio de Transportes y Telecomunicaciones ³. Its single article adds article 90 ter to the Código Aeronáutico ³. Airlines operating in Chile must send API, PNR and the documents in article 90 to the PDI, Carabineros and the Ministerio Público once boarding is complete ³. On request from the Ministerio Público, the police or the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública, they must give each passenger's identity, boarding point and destination ³.

The law sets no retention period, purpose limits or sanctions, and does not refer to the data protection law ³. The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill, Boletín 17203, on 12 August 2025 by 133 votes with 4 abstentions ⁵. The Chamber said the bill included protocols to protect passengers' personal data ⁵.

The PDI and border control

Ley 21.325 on migration was published on 20 April 2021 ⁴. It defines the police as the Policía de Investigaciones de Chile (article 1) and requires entry and exit through authorised crossings with valid travel documents (article 24) ⁴. Article 31 bars the police from letting people leave who are under a court travel ban ⁴.

Airlines must send lists of passengers entering or leaving Chile to the PDI and check at boarding that documents allow travel, as reported by Daniela Toro in Emol on 10 September 2025 ⁶. The report said fines run from 10 to 20 UTM per passenger ⁶. It said the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones fined JetSmart 8,390 UTM on 1 September 2025 for not giving the PDI passenger lists for 839 passengers on six flights ⁶. As reported by Martín Garretón in Emol on 28 August 2026, the Servicio said JetSmart had 42 fines issued between 2023 and 2025 totalling 10,820 UTM ⁹. In a company statement quoted in that report, JetSmart said the fines were contested in court and concerned a dispute over giving information to the migration authority, not illegal transport of people ⁹. The report said the Santiago Court of Appeals annulled one sanction and the Servicio appealed to the Supreme Court ⁹.

Contraloría audit of PDI migration control

A Contraloría General de la República audit covering 1 January 2022 to 31 July 2023 found that five expelled foreigners entered Chile again through authorised crossings, as reported by Javier Thomson in T13 on 16 April 2024 ⁸. The report quoted the audit as saying this showed a weakness in PDI migration control at those places and did not comply with article 136 of Ley 21.325 ⁸. The Clinic named the crossings as Los Libertadores and Chungará ⁷. It recommended new controls at all authorised crossings ⁸.

The audit found 17 judicial expulsions logged in the PDI GEPOL system with no exit recorded, as reported by Catalina Reid in The Clinic on 17 April 2024 ⁷. It found 12 released prisoners not reported to the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones for expulsion ⁷.

PDI response

PDI director general Eduardo Cerna said "Al parecer es un error de registro" and ordered an internal inquiry (sumario) ⁸. He said administrative errors would be corrected ⁸. In 11 of 30 cases with no confirmed exit, the PDI said the expulsion was carried out, and The Clinic reported that this had not been shown ⁷. We found no official record naming a supplier for PDI border or passenger data systems ^3,4.

Chronology