Título Quinto

Any public official, public servant or any person who infringes the provisions of this law shall be subject to the application of administrative or criminal sanctions in accordance with the provisions set forth in this law and other applicable laws.

Administrative offenses committed by those responsible for compliance with this Law shall be sanctioned according to the seriousness thereof, without prejudice to any corresponding civil or criminal responsibilities.

In the substantiation and decision of the administrative sanctioning procedure, the rules on the matter shall apply.

Whoever commercializes or distributes by any means information files of personal data, sensitive data or sensitive personal data protected by the present law without having the express written authorization of the holder thereof and which do not come from public records, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of five to eight years and a fine of fifty thousand to one hundred thousand quetzales and the confiscation of the objects and instruments of the crime.

The criminal sanction shall be applied without prejudice to the corresponding civil liabilities and the damage and losses that could be generated by the commercialization or distribution of personal data, sensitive data or sensitive personal data.

Whoever, without authorization, alters or destroys information of personal data, sensitive data or sensitive personal data of a person, found in files, records, computer or electronic media of public institutions, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of five to eight years and a fine of fifty thousand to one hundred thousand quetzales.

The criminal sanction shall be applied without prejudice to the corresponding civil liabilities and the damage and losses that could be generated by the alteration or destruction of information in files.

A public official, public servant or any person responsible for complying with this law who arbitrarily or unjustifiably obstructs the requester's access to the requested information incurs the crime of retention of information. They shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of one to three years, with special disqualification for twice the penalty imposed, and a fine of ten thousand to fifty thousand quetzales.

The criminal sanction shall be applied without prejudice to the corresponding civil liabilities and the damage and losses that may be generated by the retention of the information.

The public servant, public official or public employee who reveals or facilitates the revelation of information known by reason of office and which by provision of law or of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala is confidential or reserved, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of five to eight years and special disqualification for twice the penalty imposed and a fine of fifty thousand to one hundred thousand quetzales.

The national or foreign person who, having the obligation to maintain in reserve or confidentiality data which by provision of law or of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala, commits the acts of the preceding paragraph shall be sanctioned in the same manner.

The criminal sanction shall be applied without prejudice to the corresponding civil liabilities and the damage and losses that could be generated by the disclosure of the confidential or reserved information.

The obligated parties, within the scope of their respective competences, shall establish and implement the Information Units and shall update their ex officio obligations within the one hundred eighty days counted from the entry into force of the present law.

An additional specific line item shall be included in the General Budget of Income and Expenditure of the State so that the Human Rights Ombudsman may carry out the functions established in this law.

The creation of the information units of the obligated subjects shall not entail additional expenditures under the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State, but rather they shall be staffed with existing public officials, except in duly justified cases, upon request of the obligated subject that forms part of the State within the public administration.

This Law shall enter into force one hundred eighty days after its publication in the Official Gazette. This article and Articles 6 and 68 are excepted from the date of entry into force and shall enter into force on the day of their publication in the Official Gazette.