VPNs with servers in the Dominican Republic

Art. 54 lets the Public Ministry, following the Criminal Procedure Code, order preservation of a system for up to ninety days (renewable), order providers including internet providers to supply a user’s data, require real-time collection of traffic data, and intercept telecommunications as art. 192 of that Code provides.

A draft INDOTEL regulation (Resolution 056-09) defined a provider to include access providers, data transmitters and hosting services and proposed retention of ninety working days to two years; Law 74-25 repeals the provisions of Law 53-07 that conflict with the Penal Code (art. 391). Whether a VPN operator is covered is not established.

Under art. 54(h) of Law 53-07 the Public Ministry may make inaccessible or remove the content of a system accessed for an investigation.

The new Penal Code (Law 74-25) defines defamation (art. 208) as publicly imputing a specific fact that harms honour or reputation, including through digital platforms; the Code takes effect twelve months after its publication (art. 393). As passed, defamation carries two to five years’ imprisonment and a fine; the magazine Mercado reports that an amendment of July 2026 reduced the prison term to one to two years.

Insult (art. 210) carries 15 days to a year or a fine, and cyberbullying (art. 123) two to five years and a fine.

Providers can be ordered to supply user data (Law 53-07, art. 54(d)).

Article 44(3) of the Constitution makes private correspondence, documents and messages in any format, and telephonic and electronic communications, inviolable: they may be taken or intercepted only by order of a judicial authority or an authority a judge authorises, in accordance with the law. Art. 54(l) of Law 53-07 routes real-time interception through the Criminal Procedure Code. The order of the rows is the security score, and a server’s location is not a recommendation.