Martín Figueroa, head of the diversity sector at the Central Unitary Workers’ Union (CUT), criticized the General Comptroller of the Republic’s persistent requests for personal information from the country’s health services and the Undersecretariat of Care Networks regarding children and adolescents participating in the Gender Identity Support Program (PAIG).
The information demanded by the oversight body includes social and registered names, gender identity, legal sex, and identification numbers (RUT), which have been requested three times, only to be met with refusal from the Undersecretariat of Care Networks to provide these details.
«There are legal restrictions that limit the disclosure of the requested information, particularly those derived from Law No. 19,628 on the Protection of Private Life, as well as other current regulations that safeguard personal and sensitive data,» stated Bernardo Martorell, the undersecretary, in response to the comptroller’s request.
The document also cites Law No. 20,584 and its Regulation (D.S. No. 41), which designates clinical records and health information as «sensitive, reserved, and subject to limited access,» a protection that is reinforced when the subjects are children and adolescents.
For this reason, Martorell argued that the undersecretariat «lacks the authority to lift the legal reservation protecting these patients, and the same restriction applies to health services, which, while they might possess the required data, cannot divulge it.»
«Abusing Her Position»
In this context, Martín Figueroa claimed that Controller Dorothy Pérez «is abusing her position and persecuting trans individuals,» asserting that this request represents a «serious overstepping of her authority.»
«What we are witnessing is the onset of an unacceptable persecution against trans individuals, disguised as oversight that exceeds the powers of the Comptroller’s Office,» argued the CUT representative.
According to Figueroa, «demanding names, identification numbers, gender identity, and clinical backgrounds is a violation of privacy, human rights, and data protection laws, especially concerning children and adolescents.»
«While oversight of public resources is legitimate, it must not morph into a mechanism of harassment, stigmatization, and control over bodies and identities,» he added, calling on the Controller to respect «the confidentiality, dignity, and safety of trans individuals and to cease this practice, which resembles the actions of the dictatorial regimes our country has experienced.»
The Comptroller’s request has also been questioned by Senator Claudia Pascual (PC), who sent a letter to the Child Defense Office seeking their stance on the issue, which had not yet been provided by the time of this report. Read more in the article published by El Ciudadano:
We will continue to provide updates.
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