Draft bill 64.

Summary.

The draft bill creates Panamá Alerta as an operational component of the National Civil Protection System to issue official alerts about imminent or ongoing threats, emergencies, or disasters. It would apply to competent public entities, mobile network and service operators, media outlets integrated into the system, and others involved in its operation or dissemination. It defines threat types, originating authorities, risk areas, georeferenced cellular dissemination, interoperability, the Central Alert Platform, and the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). Its operation is governed, among other principles, by free access, accessibility, continuity, information security, and use for civil protection and risk management.

SINAPROC would coordinate the system, manage or coordinate the platform and its backups, and authorize, issue, update, suspend, and cancel alerts. Originating authorities, including the Panama Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Instituto de Meteorología e Hidrología de Panamá) and the entities responsible for health, the environment, security, and infrastructure, would provide timely, verifiable technical information. The Technical Committee on Interoperability and Public Alerts (Comité Técnico de Interoperabilidad y Alertas Públicas), with participation from the Ministry of Government (Ministerio de Gobierno), the National Authority for Government Innovation (Autoridad Nacional para la Innovación Gubernamental), the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud), operators, and other institutions, would support protocols, specifications, testing, and continuity plans. ASEP would issue technical rules, oversee operators, regulate device compatibility, and handle the corresponding telecommunications sanctions.

Alerts could be activated for natural, health, environmental, technological, or critical infrastructure risks, taking into account their severity, urgency, certainty, and geographic scope. Each message would identify the issuing authority, the risk, and the affected area; it would state the urgency, severity, certainty, protective instructions, time of issue, validity period, and official information channel. Messages may not include propaganda, advertising, political opinions, or unnecessary personal data. Operators would have to enable and maintain, at their own expense, priority, complete, secure, and georeferenced transmission without altering or delaying messages. Receipt would be free and would not depend on account balance, data, internet access, or subscriptions. SINAPROC and ASEP would coordinate tests and drills, with procedures, indicators, and reports to be developed in implementing regulations.

The system would operate with privacy by design, preferably without identifying recipients or individually tracking their locations. Its technical records would be processed in accordance with Law 81 of 2019. Commercial or political uses, false or unauthorized alerts, charges for receiving alerts, and message manipulation are prohibited. Budget appropriations, cooperation, permitted donations, and other lawful sources would fund the platform and public functions; operators would bear the cost of adapting their networks without a specific charge to users. SINAPROC and ASEP would exercise oversight, request reports, and could order corrective measures. SINAPROC would publish an annual report and conduct public education campaigns with the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación) and other participants.

The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo), through the Ministry of Government, would issue implementing regulations for the proposed law within 180 calendar days of its promulgation. Implementation would be phased. Mobile concessions, licenses, permits, and authorizations would be subject to the transmission obligations, and ASEP would make the administrative adjustments. Where the proposed law does not provide otherwise, Law 7 of 2005, Law 31 of 1996, Law 81 of 2019, and the other specified rules would apply as appropriate. The provisions concern civil protection, health, education, and public service institutions, as well as mobile operators, media outlets, local and comarca authorities, and communities exposed to emergencies.