Privacy perceptions and the use of tools for its protection in Uruguay

This article explores Uruguayan’s perceptions about privacy rights in the digital era and the capacity of legal and institutional frameworks to protect it. The article presents the results of a survey and an intervention (experimental design) on the Facebook platform in Uruguay from 2018, where participants received a random treatment about their credit information that was publicly available with their National Identification Number. Based on these results, the article explores the tensions in matters of identity systems, personal data protection and regulation of the privacy right in Uruguay. The Uruguayan case is relevant for its adaptation to the personal data protection standards proposed by the European Union, as well as for the relatively good institutional performance of the country in Latin America. Based on the results of the survey and the experiment, the privacy paradox is confirmed, according to which people recognize an important value in the law but their actions for protection are limited. The article argues in favor of building state and citizen capacities for effective control of personal data.