El principio de publicidad de los documentos notariales frente al derecho a la protección de datos personales en el Ecuador.

Abstract

This paper examines the principle of publicity of notarial documents in relation to the right to personal data protection in Ecuador. The study addresses the tension between the Notarial Law and the Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data. It focuses on requests for copies, certified copies, or authenticated copies of public instruments containing personal, financial, familial, contractual, or sensitive information of the parties involved or of third parties. The main legal problem is that Articles 40 and 41 of the Notarial Law permit the issuance of notarial documents and require that the deed be copied verbatim. They do not establish clear criteria for limiting access to documents containing personal data. This lack of regulations creates uncertainty for notaries and can affect the fundamental right to personal data protection recognized by the Constitution. The research employs a legal-dogmatic, qualitative, and descriptive-analytical approach, supported by analytical, exegetical, and comparative methods. Constitutional and legal norms, specialized doctrine, Ecuadorian jurisprudence, and comparative law are reviewed. The analysis concludes that notarial advertising has a legitimate purpose linked to public trust and legal certainty, but it should not be interpreted as an absolute power when it involves protected personal information. The paper proposes simple legal guidelines to harmonize both regimes: verification of the applicant's identity, purpose of the request, legal authorization or legitimate interest, proportionality, data minimization, confidentiality, and a reasoned record of the notarial decision. Thus, it seeks to guarantee legitimate access to notarial documents without affecting the constitutional protection of personal data.