Beatriz Busaniche and Margarita Trovato will participate in the VII International Symposium of the Latin American Network of Surveillance, Technology, and Society Studies (LAVITS), taking place in Rio de Janeiro from August 26 to 28 at the UFRJ Science and Culture Forum (FCC).
On Friday, August 28, they will present the open panel session “Cartographies of Opacity: Spyware, Public Procurement, and Regulatory Fragmentation in Argentina.” The panel will feature Manuel Tufro (CELS), Tomás Francisco Pomar (O.D.I.A.), Beatriz Busaniche (Fundación Vía Libre), Florencia Caffarone (DER), and Margarita Trovato (Fundación Vía Libre).
In this panel, we present the findings of a research project conducted by four Argentine civil society organizations. To structure the discussion, we organized the insights around four key axes: First, the expansion of the surveillance state in Argentina and the current political climate. Second, the main risk factors identified: state opacity, institutional weakness, the history of adopting surveillance technology without impact assessments, and the past lack of control over the use of these tools by security forces. Third, federalism as a specific issue: an analysis of the regulatory framework across the country’s 25 jurisdictions. Finally, the regulatory recommendations developed from the research and the building of a joint regional agenda with Latin American organizations, aimed at strengthening control and accountability mechanisms against the spread of state spyware.
To learn more about these findings, you can consult the Alerta Spyware report.
About LAVITS 2026 The LAVITS International Symposium is an interdisciplinary gathering hosted by the Latin American Network of Surveillance, Technology, and Society Studies. It is designed as a critical and plural space for exchange among academia, social movements, activists, and artists. The event aims to debate and investigate the sociocultural, political, and economic transformations stemming from digital technologies, surveillance systems, artificial intelligence, and data capitalism from a critical, Latin American perspective. Through research presentations, workshops, open sessions, and artistic expressions, the symposium fosters the creation of collective knowledge and resistance strategies against power asymmetries and violations of human and historical rights in the region.
More information about the event is available at https://www.simposio2026.lavits.org/