The Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Ecuador. This is the first specific legal regulation about personal data protection. The law, among other things, sets out data security obligations, introduces data subject rights, establishes safeguards, including obligations to guarantee fair and responsible data processing, and requires that personal data databases be registered. It is reported that the appointment of the person who will head the Personal Data Protection Authority, known as the Data Protection Superintendency, is still pending. The issuance of the General Regulation was made through Executive Decree 904. In addition, there are data protection provisions contained within the following laws:
- Organic Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information 2004 regulates publicly available data and the management of credit information;
- Organic Law on Telecommunications 2015, which regulates telecommunications operators;
- Labour Code 2005, which contains the duty of employers to protect the personal information of their employees;
- Health Law 2006, which establishes the duty of people involved in the healthcare industry to protect confidential health information;
- Monetary and Financial Code, which includes dispositions regarding data protection in all financial transactions; and
- Law of the National System of Registration of Public Data includes general provisions related to public data protection.
Also, the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador 2008 provides for the right to privacy concerning an individual's data.

According to Art. 42 of the Personal Data Protection Law, the controller shall perform a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) when its data processing has been identified as a high risk to the rights and freedoms of the data subject by its nature, context or purposes.

According to Art. 48 of the Personal Data Protection Law, the Data Protection Officer must be appointed in the following cases:
- When the processing is carried out by those who make up the public sector in accordance with the provisions of Art. 225 of the Constitution;
- When the activities of the person responsible or in charge of the processing of personal data require a permanent and systematised control due to the volume, nature, scope, or purposes of the processing, as established in this law, the regulations thereof, or in the regulations issued in this regard by the Superintendency;
- When there is large-scale processing of special categories of data, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations of this law;
- When the processing does not refer to data related to national security and defence of the State that are confidential or secret, in accordance with the provisions of the specialised regulations on the matter.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringement is absent in Ecuador's law and jurisprudence.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Ecuador's law and jurisprudence.

According to Art. 5 of the Telecommunications and value-added services subscriber regulation, the registration of cell phones and SIM cards using a national ID is mandatory.

According to Art. 98 of the Organic Law on Communication, all the advertising that is disseminated in Ecuadorian territory through the media must be produced in Ecuadorian territory by Ecuadorian natural persons or foreigners residing in Ecuador or produced abroad by Ecuadorian persons residing abroad or foreign legal entities whose ownership of the majority of the share package corresponds to Ecuadorians and whose payroll for its realisation and production is made up of at least 80% of Ecuadorian nationals. In addition, the importation of advertising pieces produced outside the country by foreign companies is prohibited, with the exception of what is established regarding foreign legal entities, with a majority of shares owned by Ecuadorians. According to the same article, advertising production is understood as television and movie commercials, radio spots, photographs for static advertising, or any other audiovisual piece used for advertising purposes.
Art. 55 of the General Regulations of the Organic Law on Communication clarifies that "national" advertisements encompass those produced in countries with which Ecuador has signed an integration treaty. Although the regulation does not explicitly define what constitutes an integration treaty, it has been reported that the private sector interprets this provision as a relaxation of the advertising rules stipulated by the Law. This interpretation suggests that advertising produced in member countries of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) — comprising Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia — as well as the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) — including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname — may be disseminated within Ecuador.

It is reported that Ecuador does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, it is reported that there is an obligation of accounting separation.

Art. 34 of Ecuador’s Organic Telecommunications Law requires telecommunications suppliers with at least a 30% market share to pay 0.5% of their gross revenue to the government and an additional 1% of their gross revenue for each additional 5% market share they hold above 30%. However, Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CNT), which is owned by the government, is not included in the calculation of market share and is exempt from the fees.
CNT is the dominant provider of fixed telecommunications services and is the second-largest supplier of subscription television services. In addition to the fee exemption, the government of Ecuador maintains policies that favour CNT over other competitors, including exemptions from paying certain license taxes and fees.

Art. 40 of the Organic Communications Law provides that for the granting and renewal of licenses for the provision of telecom services, the Agency on Telecommunication Regulation and Control (Agencia de Regulación y Control de las Telecomunicaciones, ARCOTEL) will consider the need to address: technological development, market evolution, the National Telecommunications Plan, the needs for the sustained development of the sector and of the State and universal access to information and communication technologies, as well as the effective satisfaction of the public or general interest.
Art. 40 also establishes that in the case of applications for the granting of new licenses, it must be evaluated whether any company or group of companies related to the applicant of the license provides the same service or similar services and the effects that the granting of the new license required could have on the market. For this purpose, a sworn statement must be submitted. In this regard, Art. 24 of the Telecommunications and Frequencies Enabling Titles Regulation provides that no license for the rendering of telecommunications services shall be granted to natural or juridical persons who have a valid license for the rendering of the same service of the general telecommunications regime, without prejudice to the application of the criteria set forth in Art. 40 of the Organic Law of Telecommunications.

Ecuador has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the "Agencia de Regulación y Control de las Telecomunicaciones" (ARCOTEL), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Art. 146 of the Organic Code on the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation stipulates that when public sector entities contract technological services to third parties, they must ensure that information or data that has been classified as reserved and confidential for reasons of national security and that belongs to the Ecuadorian state must be stored in data centres or computer platforms located in Ecuadorian territory. Prior to its amendment by the Fintech Law in 2022, the Code stipulated that data pertaining to national security and strategic sectors had to be stored in computer centres located within Ecuadorian territory. Furthermore, data of relevance to the State had to be stored in computer centres located within Ecuadorian territory or in countries with data protection standards that are at least as stringent as those established in Ecuador.

According to Art. 56 of the Personal Data Protection Law, personal data can be transferred to countries that comply with internationally recognised standards in accordance with the criteria that will be established in the regulation of the law, which still need to be published. When necessary, due to the nature of the transfer, the Personal Data Protection Authority may implement ex-post control methods. According to Art. 60 of the law, without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding articles, international transfers or communications of personal data may be carried out in some circumstances, including with the explicit consent of the data subject, for the fulfilment of institutional competencies, to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation, and for the performance of a contract between the holder and the controller of the personal data.

Art. 10.11.2 of the Economic Complementation Agreement No. 75 between the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Ecuador provides that each Party shall permit the cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, including personal information, where such activity is for the conduct of the business of a person of a Party. In addition, Art. 10.12.2 states that a Party may not require a person of the other Party to use or locate computer facilities in the territory of that Party as a condition of doing business in that territory.