P.R. Laws tit. 3, § 971
For purposes of this chapter, unless another meaning clearly arises from the context of the chapter itself, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
(a) Statistics Coordination Committee. — Means the government organism in charge of ensuring the flow and continuity of data and statistics, clarify problems regarding access to statistical data and information and propose solutions to problems pertaining to the operation of statistical units.
(b) Confidentiality. — Means the guarantee that the data that may identify natural or legal persons shall not be disclosed, and that in the administrative procedure of compiling, processing and registering all statistical products or information, it shall be assured that the use given to the statistical data shall only be for the required use, and that any other disclosure, use or publication is strictly prohibited. Moreover, the guarantee that the data provided by said persons shall not be used against them in administrative or legal procedures, except when such information has been obtained independently from the statistical process and without knowledge of the protected disclosure. Any information that by legal definition is established as “public information” or “public document” is hereby excepted.
(c) Improper disclosure. — Means a disclosure by means of which any natural or juridical person may be identified by the data supplied by same and published by any government organism. When sensitive information about a natural or juridical person is published in such a manner that said person may be identified, or when the published data may bring about the detection of any individual characteristic of any natural or juridical person. For such purposes, multiple natural or juridical persons affiliated among themselves by motives relevant to the disclosed information shall be considered as one single person.
(d) Private entity. — Means any person, natural or juridical, including profit or nonprofit corporations, partnerships, special partnerships, associations, organisms or collectives that are local or doing business in Puerto Rico.
(e) Special Fund for the Institute of Statistics. — Means the fund under the custody of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics for the financing of projects to improve statistical methodologies, processes or products in government organisms.
(f) Nomenclature. — Means the system of terminology pertaining to statistics.
(g) Government organisms. — Means any department, board, commission, bureau, office, agency, administration, organism, public corporation, or political subdivision of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including municipal governments.
(h) Person. — Means any natural or juridical person, whether private or a public official, and any group thereof.
(i) Statistical product. — Means the set of quantitative results obtained through a systematical process of qualifying, gathering or compiling, treatment, analysis and disclosure of primary data obtained from diverse natural and juridical persons regarding relevant facts for the study of economic, social, demographic, environmental and other types.
(j) Administrative register. — Means any information depository set forth by law or regulation, to give faith, authenticate, certify or validate the existence of an event, status, or condition of the subjects or objects whose files are maintained in said depository.
(k) Statistical Production Service of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics. — Means the set of activities and data produced for the preparation of the statistical product developed by statistical units of the government organisms.
(l) Statistical units. — Means all programs, offices of assistants, areas, bureaus, divisions, offices, or any other government administrative organism divisions responsible for the production of statistics.
History —Aug. 28, 2003, No. 209, § 2; July 27, 2004, No. 170, § 1; Aug. 15, 2008, No. 279, § 1.