Risk Management and Data Protection: Ecuadorian Normative Technification versus the European GDPR Paradigm

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of the personal data protection regulatory framework in the Republic of Ecuador, with special emphasis on the technical implementation strategy deployed by the Superintendence of Personal Data Protection (SPDP). Through an analytical-comparative methodology —combining documentary analysis of primary normative sources, bibliographic review of specialized literature, and case studies of concrete regulatory tools— the regulatory spectrum is examined, transitioning from a guarantee-oriented rights-based model, through the GDPR's risk-based approach, to consolidate into a meta-regulation model. The study deconstructs the Ecuadorian regulations and quantitative risk management guides (FAIR, Monte Carlo), contrasting this prescriptive approach with the operational flexibility of the European model represented by the GESTIONA system of the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) and the French CNIL framework. The research concludes that Ecuador is betting on mathematical objectification of compliance, transforming abstract legal obligations into prescriptive engineering requirements to bridge the regional implementation gap, distancing itself from the European trust-based model. While this approach reduces legal uncertainty, it carries risks of normative rigidity and exclusion of actors with limited resources.