In this broadcast of the TV show “Es más complejo”, aired on Canal de la Ciudad, Nicolás Lucca analyzes the impact of surveillance technologies on privacy and civil rights alongside Dr. Margarita Trovato. Trovato is an attorney who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), a specialist in Human Rights and Critical Legal Studies certified by CLACSO, and serves as Public Policy Lead at Fundación Vía Libre.
In the first part of the interview, Trovato delves into the concept of hyper-surveillance, explaining how massive data correlation and artificial intelligence place citizens in an ecosystem where personal information is processed incessantly. She then clarifies that this tracking extends beyond direct state surveillance to include the private market through the daily use of social media, mapping applications, smartwatches, and public transit. As a result, companies exploit not only consciously surrendered data, but also the vast volume of information they infer regarding personal routines, consumption habits, and relationships.
The interview critically examines the use of facial recognition systems for fugitives in public spaces across the City of Buenos Aires and its constitutional flaws. Trovato warns about the gravity of indiscriminate facial scanning across the general population, noting that “there were many constitutional issues … with my data being checked all the time, just in case—like a reversed presumption of innocence: as if we were all the wanted person until proven otherwise.” She also details the system’s severe inconsistencies, such as software error margins and outdated judicial databases, which led to a judicial suspension of the measure through a legal process in which Fundación Vía Libre intervened as amicus curiae due to the lack of source code audits.
Another key focus of the conversation addresses the delegation of essential state security functions to private companies through “black box” software such as Clearview, Pegasus, or Palantir. Trovato explains that the State is usually unaware of the underlying algorithms and the ultimate destination of the data collected by these international corporations. In the same vein, when analyzing resolutions on cyber-patrolling and artificial intelligence applied to security, she warns of the chilling effect—dissuasive or self-censorship impact—generated by monitoring public demonstrations and spaces without a prior criminal hypothesis on the exercise of social protest and freedom of expression.
Finally, Trovato analyzes institutional vulnerabilities and the lack of updated regulatory frameworks, pointing out that Argentina’s Personal Data Protection Law is over two decades old and anachronistic compared to international standards like Europe’s. After reviewing massive data leaks in agencies such as RENAPER, the Federal Police, and ANSES, Trovato demystifies the supposed opposition between public order and fundamental rights, stating that “the security versus privacy dichotomy is, at best, misleading,” and encourages critical thinking to avoid surrendering essential freedoms in the name of “techno-solutionism.”