MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Luis Álvarez Cervantes, Adolfo Athié Cervantes, Alejandro Barrera, Jesús Colunga, Eduardo Kleinberg, Juan José López de Silanes, Carlos Martínez-Betanzos and Amílcar Peredo, Basham, Ringe y Correa S.C.
Industrial Secrets Mexico recognises industrial secrets as any informa - tion with an industrial or commercial application that is kept confidential, and which provides an economic or competitive advantage in performing economic activi - ties. Appropriate measures to protect its confidential - ity and avoid unauthorised accesses must have been taken. If information meets this definition, it will enjoy enhanced legal protection in several ways. Misappro - priation of an industrial secret is punishable by a fine imposed by the IMPI. Misappropriating or disclosing an industrial secret constitutes a federal crime punish - able by up to six years in prison and a fine. When an industrial secret is presented to a judge or other government authority as part of a legal process, they are bound to adopt measures to avoid disclosure. Several criminal codes in Mexico forbid the disclosure of information that an individual may come to know as part of their professional activities. Therefore, even if unduly disclosed information does not meet the defi - nition of industrial secret, it may still be possible to take legal action against such disclosure. Mexico has undergone significant legal and institu - tional reforms that have reshaped its data protection framework and supervisory structure. These changes reflect a transition from constitutionally autonomous authority to a model integrated within the federal pub - lic administration. The most relevant development is the Constitutional Reform published in December 2024, pursuant to which the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI), formerly an autonomous constitutional body, was dis - solved. Its functions were reassigned to the Secretaría Anticorrupción y Buen Gobierno (Ministry of Anti-Cor - ruption and Good Governance), which now acts as the competent authority for the enforcement of personal data protection laws in the private sector. 8. Data Protection 8.1 Applicable Regulations
Following this institutional reform, the updated Fed - eral Law on the Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties (LFPDPPP), entered into force on 21 March 2025. The law maintains the core principles of the prior regime (including lawfulness, consent, information, purpose limitation, proportionality, and accountability), while introducing adjustments aligned with the new supervisory model and enforcement structure. The LFPDPPP is complemented by secondary regula - tion, including the Privacy Notice Guidelines ( Lineami- entos del Aviso de Privacidad ), which remain in force and continue to govern transparency and information obligations toward data subjects. It should be noted, however, that following the entry into force of the 2025 LFPDPPP, no updated imple - menting regulation has yet been issued. While the 2011 Regulations of the LFPDPPP ( Reglamento de la Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares ) have not been formally abrogated, their applicability must be assessed on a provision-by-provision basis, as certain provisions may be incompatible with or superseded by the cur - rent statutory framework. Accordingly, reliance on the 2011 Regulations as a primary compliance reference warrants caution. The Executive Branch has been granted authority to issue updated secondary regulation, and the compe - tent authority has publicly indicated that further regu - latory developments – including potential legislative and regulatory updates – are expected. 8.2 Geographical Scope Mexican data protection legislation applies to the pro - cessing of personal data carried out by private entities established in Mexico, as well as to processing activi - ties subject to Mexican law under applicable jurisdic - tional criteria. As further developed below, the territo - rial reach of the LFPDPPP extends beyond Mexico’s borders in specific circumstances expressly defined under the law and its implementing provisions. The LFPDPPP, as amended and currently in force since 21 March 2025, constitutes the primary statu - tory framework governing the processing of personal
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