AI regulation in Ecuador (2026)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).