Citizens vs Data Protection and Enforcement Agency (INAI)

On January, 2023, the plaintiff filed a request to Mexico's Data Protection and Enforcement Agency (INAI) to gain access to Pemex Logistics (part of Mexico's state-owned oil company) Methane Emissions Diagnosis, a document that the entity was required to present before the National Agency for Industrial Security and Environmental Protection in the Hydrocarbon Sector (ASEA) detailing, among other information, the quantity of the methane emissions it generates. The INAI denied the request, arguing that the information in the Diagnosis contained classified information for national security concerns, as well as trade secrets. On September 28th, 2023, the plaintiff filed an amparo suit against this decision, arguing that the information contained in the Diagnosis should be public because it constitutes environmental information. On February 7, 2024, the 11th District Court in Administrative Matters in Mexico City denied the request and confirmed INAI's decision. On February 20, 2024, the plaintiff appealed the District Court's decision. The case was sent to the Fifth Circuit Court of the First Circuit, which asked the Supreme Court to decide the case due to its constitutional relevance on August 7, 2024. Justice Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena delivered the opinion of the First Chaber of the Supreme Court on May 14, 2025, agreeing with the lower court. The Court partially upheld INAI's decision. It ruled that information contained in the Diagnosis that involved the "methods, processes, justification, and location of oil wells and the type of equipment" used by Pemex Logistics was classified for national security reasons. The Court considered that article 110 of the Federal Law for Transparency and Access to Public Information provides a list of grounds under which information can be classified, one of which is national security purposes. The Guidelines for classification and declassification of information specify that any information that could enable the sabotage of strategic infrastructure can be classified under national security considerations. The Court considered that the Diagnosis contained information on the type of equipment used by Pemex Logistics and the location of oil wells. This could enable sabotage. As such, considering that Mexico's Constitution considers the hydrocarbon sector as "strategic activities". The Court also upheld the decision, finding that the Diagnosis contained information on the "calculating method, the base year of the diagnosis, the number of oil wells, as well as the justification for the methods employed," which constituted a trade secret. Lastly, the Court overturned the decision regarding the information in the Diagnosis, which details the total amount of methane emissions generated by each oil well or piece of equipment. The Court found that this information did not compromise national security and was not a trade secret. It also specified that the release of this information translated into accountability since it could allow the public to assess whether Mexico was fulfilling its commitments under the Paris Agreement and the joint declaration made in 2016 with the governments of Canada and the United States pledging to reduce methane emissions by between 40 and 45% by 2025.