Yes, scraping public data in Costa Rica is generally permissible, provided it complies with constitutional protections, data privacy laws, and sector-specific regulations. Publicly accessible information—such as government records, court filings, or open datasets—may be collected, but automated extraction must avoid circumventing technical barriers or violating privacy rights. The Ley de Protección de la Persona frente al Tratamiento de sus Datos Personales (Law No. 8968) and the Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública (Law No. 8220) form the legal backbone, with enforcement overseen by the Autoridad de Protección de Datos de los Habitantes (PRODHAB). Recent 2026 amendments to the transparency law now explicitly address digital scraping, requiring entities to document data sources and purposes to mitigate risks of unauthorized processing.
Key Regulations for Scraping Public Data in Costa Rica
- Constitutional and Privacy Safeguards: Article 24 of the Costa Rican Constitution protects personal data, while Law No. 8968 mandates that even publicly available personal data cannot be scraped for profiling or commercial use without explicit consent. Violations may trigger fines up to 100 base salaries (₡52 million in 2026).
- Transparency Law Restrictions: Under Law No. 8220, automated scraping of government portals is permitted only if it does not disrupt services or extract data marked as “confidential” (e.g., judicial records under Ley de Acceso a la Justicia). Entities must register scraping activities with the Comisión Nacional de Acceso a la Información Pública (CONAI).
- Sector-Specific Exemptions: Financial data (regulated by Ley Reguladora del Mercado de Valores) and healthcare records (governed by Ley General de Salud) are off-limits for scraping, even if publicly accessible. Non-compliance may result in sanctions from the Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras (SUGEF) or the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS).