AI regulation in Ecuador: laws & policy (2026)
AI in Ecuador: proposed.
Ecuador has adopted a national AI strategy (EFIA-EC) valid 2025-2029 and a binding data-protection rule for AI systems, but has not yet enacted a comprehensive AI law. A draft Organic Law on the Regulation and Promotion of AI, risk-based and modelled on the EU AI Act, was filed in the Asamblea Nacional in June 2024 and remained under commission review as of mid-2025. In parallel, MINTEL is developing a regulatory sandbox for AI with UNDP support.
Legal framework
Proposed: Proyecto de Ley Orgánica de Regulación y Promoción de la Inteligencia Artificial (Asamblea Nacional, filed 2024, in committee 2025). In force: EFIA-EC National AI Strategy (Ministerial Agreement MINTEL-MINTEL-2025-0030, Jan 2026) and SPDP Resolution SPDP-SPD-2026-0009-R on personal data in AI systems (Feb 2026). Regulator: Ministerio de Telecomunicaciones y de la Sociedad de la Información (MINTEL); Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales (SPDP).
Key points: artificial intelligence in Ecuador
National AI Strategy (EFIA-EC)
Ministerial Agreement MINTEL-MINTEL-2025-0030, published in the Official Registry on 19 January 2026, establishes the 2025-2029 roadmap for safe, ethical AI adoption across three pillars: governance and ethics, human and technological capacities, and responsible innovation. Developed with IDB and UNESCO support.
Proposed comprehensive AI law
The 'Proyecto de Ley Orgánica de Regulación y Promoción de la Inteligencia Artificial' (Bill 450889, filed by Assembly member Patricia Núñez) proposes a risk-tiered framework inspired by the EU AI Act, with MINTEL as promoter and a yet-to-be-defined independent supervisory body. As of July 2025 it remained under review by the CECCYT commission, with experts flagging excessive concentration of powers in MINTEL.
Data-protection rule for AI (SPDP, Feb 2026)
Resolution SPDP-SPD-2026-0009-R (12 February 2026), issued by the Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales, is binding on all organisations that develop, train, or deploy AI systems processing data of Ecuadorian residents. It mandates transparency disclosures, prior risk/impact assessments, inclusion in the Record of Processing Activities, periodic audits, and prohibits fully automated decisions with legal effect without human oversight.
AI Regulatory Sandbox
MINTEL, in partnership with UNDP and under the regional 'IA Sprint' initiative, is structuring an AI Regulatory Sandbox to allow companies, academia, and the public sector to pilot AI applications in strategic sectors under controlled conditions, with embedded rights and transparency safeguards.
Agency-level ethics codes
Several public bodies have adopted internal AI ethics rules ahead of the broader law. The Superintendency of Economic Competition (SCE) issued Resolution SCE-DS-2025-34 mandating transparency, human oversight, and a ban on automated decisions without review for all staff AI use. Ecuador also became the first country to have a public institution formally adopt UNESCO's AI Ethics Recommendation framework.
Judicial and justice-sector guidelines
Between 2025 and 2026, Ecuador's Public Defender's Office, collaborating with UPF Barcelona School of Management and UNESCO, developed Basic Guidelines for the Responsible Use of AI in the Judiciary, addressing algorithmic transparency and linguistic inclusion (notably for Kichwa speakers).
Timeline of decisions
- LawExecutive Decree 461 Mandates AI Tools in Public Procurement
President Noboa signed Decree 461 reforming the LOSNCP General Regulations, requiring SERCOP to progressively deploy AI, machine learning, and NLP tools to detect risk patterns, flag irregularities, and generate early-alert signals in state contracting. The first binding executive order to operationalize AI across Ecuadorian government operations.
El Telégrafo (state media)
- Decision · officialMINTEL Launches AI Regulatory Sandbox
The Ministry of Telecommunications (MINTEL) announced an AI regulatory sandbox under authority granted by the LOTDA and EFIA-EC, allowing companies, universities, and public bodies to test AI applications in controlled conditions across strategic sectors. The sandbox roadmap was co-designed with UNDP technical assistance and is the primary innovation-promotion instrument of the national AI strategy.
Ministerio de Telecomunicaciones y de la Sociedad de la Información (MINTEL)
- Decision · officialSPDP Issues Binding AI Data-Protection Standard (Resolution SPDP-SPD-2026-0009-R)
The Superintendent of Personal Data Protection issued the General Standard for Guaranteeing Personal Data Protection in the Use of AI Systems, imposing mandatory transparency, data-minimization, and accountability obligations on any entity — domestic or foreign — that develops, trains, deploys, or provides AI systems processing Ecuadorian personal data. Article 10 grants the SPDP audit and enforcement powers over AI systems under the LOPDP sanction regime.
Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales (SPDP)
- Guidance · officialNational AI Strategy EFIA-EC Published in Official Gazette (MINTEL-2025-0030)
Ministerial Agreement MINTEL-2025-0030, published in Registro Oficial Suplemento No. 206, adopted the Strategy for the Promotion of Ethical and Responsible Development and Use of AI (EFIA-EC 2025–2029). The four-year roadmap — developed with UNESCO, IDB, AWS, and Google Cloud — covers three axes: governance, capacity and technology, and adoption and development, and constitutes Ecuador's first formal national AI policy instrument.
Ministerio de Telecomunicaciones y de la Sociedad de la Información (MINTEL)
- Guidance · officialSuperintendency of Economic Competition Adopts First Public-Sector AI Code of Ethics (SCE-DS-2025-34)
Resolution SCE-DS-2025-34 established Ecuador's first binding institutional AI ethics code, mandating transparency, human oversight, data privacy, traceability of automated actions, and prohibiting AI-generated decisions without human review for all SCE staff. UNESCO recognized it as one of Latin America's first comprehensive public-sector AI ethics instruments.
OECD.AI Policy Observatory
- Law · officialOrganic AI Law Bill (450889) Submitted to National Assembly
Assemblywoman Patricia Núñez introduced the 83-article Organic Law for the Regulation and Promotion of Artificial Intelligence, following the EU's risk-based model. The bill proposes banning mass social scoring, indiscriminate surveillance, and autonomous lethal weapons, and designates MINTEL as the primary AI regulator. As of mid-2026, it has stalled in the Education Commission without reaching a first legislative debate.
Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador
Sources
- telecomunicaciones.gob.ec/estrategia-nacional-para-el-fomento-del-desarrollo-y-uso-etico-y-resp
- lexis.com.ec/noticias/registro-oficial-del-dia-ecuador-aprueba-estrategia-nacional
- asambleanacional.gob.ec/es/multimedios-legislativos/97303-proyecto-de-ley-organica-de-regulac
- primicias.ec/ciencia-tecnologia/comision-ley-inteligencia-artificial-mintel-super-
- allende.com/en/privacy-and-cybersecurity/ecuador-establishes-guidelines-for-the-p
- pbplaw.com/publicaciones/resoluci%C3%B3n-n%C2%BA-spdp-spd-2026-0009-r-norma-gene
- telecomunicaciones.gob.ec/gobierno-de-daniel-noboa-impulsa-un-sandbox-regulatorio-para-el-desar
- oecd.ai/en/dashboards/national/ecuador
- unesco.org/en/articles/ecuador-adopts-first-artificial-intelligence-ai-code-ethi
- oecd.ai/en/dashboards/policy-initiatives/code-of-ethics-for-artificial-intell
- rebootdemocracy.ai/blog/ai-kichwa-inclusive-governance-ecuador
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Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026