Bolivia still lacks a comprehensive data law

Update October 12, 2026: Bolivia still does not have a comprehensive personal data protection law, but the regulatory picture is clearer after an AGETIC draft that remains under discussion and sector rules that protect statistical and telecommunications confidentiality.

Bolivia still has no in-force personal data protection law. The article "Te Conocen," published by Biodiversidadla.org, says there are two draft texts, one prepared by the Agency of Electronic Government and Information and Communication Technologies, AGETIC, and another by the InternetBolivia.org Foundation, but neither has become law. It also says there is no specialized authority or office with powers to review the use of personal data or segmentation practices in campaigns.

What do the draft texts say about personal data?

The two texts seek to set obligations for public and private entities handling personal information. According to the article, they would need to disclose what data they hold, where it came from, and provide ways for people to request deletion. Both remain proposals, however, and neither is known to have advanced far in the legislative process.

A regional regulatory tracker also says Bolivia has a draft general personal data protection law under discussion, introduced by AGETIC before the Plurinational Legislative Assembly in April 2023, and that it was still not approved in 2026. LexLint’s legal analysis agrees that Bolivia has no comprehensive personal data protection law, although it does recognize a constitutional habeas data action and a narrower regime for telecom and ICT operators under Law No. 164 and its regulations.

What institutional gap does the note describe?

The note says Bolivia currently has no specialized body with powers to review the use of personal data or segmentation practices in campaigns. That gap is tied directly to the absence of an approved personal data protection law, according to the same material.

That framework still coexists with sector rules and the legal basis for telecom and digital government. Law No. 164 on Telecommunications, Information and Communication Technologies appears in the official law registry of the Plurinational State of Bolivia with a date of 2011-08-08, and an analysis of the evolution of data protection in Bolivia identifies it, along with Supreme Decree 2514, as part of the institutional base for the regulatory debate. Another information security analysis describes Law 164 as the Bolivian instrument closest to a general rule for digital channels, although it is limited to communications and does not replace a comprehensive data protection law.

What protection exists for statistics and censuses?

The current statistical framework imposes statistical secrecy and anonymization on information collected by the INE. Law No. 1405 on Official Statistics of the Plurinational State of Bolivia was enacted on November 1, 2021, and its Article 5 says informants’ information may not be disclosed in identifiable form, may only be published anonymously, and may not be used for tax, judicial, administrative, or police purposes, even under an administrative or judicial order.

Bolivia’s INE also states in its terms and conditions that its officially published data are public, but they must not allow people, households, companies, or other reporting units to be identified. In its methodological documentation, it further explains that anonymization is not limited to removing direct identifiers, but also requires controlling indirect identifiers, such as geographic details or rare occupational categories, to reduce reidentification risk.

For the Agricultural Census, the institute said the current framework forbids using individual declarations as judicial evidence or for tax purposes, and linked that protection to the principles of confidentiality and statistical secrecy.

What about the reference to the CIPA law?

The reference to a CIPA law appears in the Bolivia Cibersegura initiative, mentioned in a Bolivia Emprende note about joint work by Entel with the ATT and AGETIC. There, it is described as a draft rule aimed at protecting minors’ access to the internet in schools, tied to the expansion of school connectivity.

That material does not say the text was formally introduced as a bill before Bolivia’s Plurinational Legislative Assembly. For that reason, the reference is presented as an initiative in development, not as an approved law.