"MEXICO’S SUPREME COURT REJECTS GOVERNMENT’S ATTEMPT TO COLLECT BIOMETRIC DATA FROM CELLULAR USERS", 20 October 2021

...The First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) confirmed the suspension of the National Register of Mobile Telephone Users (Panaut), also known as the new mobile telephone register, under the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).

By four votes to one, the ministers rejected the appeal filed by the Federal Government to appeal the suspension of the law on June 11 by Minister Norma Lucía Piña Hernández, which prevented the IFT from initiating the process to launch the National Register of Mobile Telephone Users, which provides for the collection of biometric data from all users.

The government is seeking to collect fingerprints, iris scans, and other biometric data of all cell users in Mexico, including foreigners. The Mexican Senate approved the controversial bill on April 12, 2021, and would create a nationwide registry of cell phone users, which will be mandatory for all cell phone users and contain each person’s biometric data...

Mexico’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the bill, but today has once again suspended the activation of the bill until the constitutionality question has been answered...