VPNs with servers in Guatemala

Under article 56 all companies providing telephone, computer or other electronic communication services must collaborate with the Public Ministry with the equipment needed for interceptions. The decree sets no retention period for such companies. Whether a VPN operator falls within article 56 is not established. In August 2022 Congress archived the Cybercrime Prevention and Protection Law (Decree 39-2022) after objections on freedom of expression.

As of 24 July 2026 a further cybercrime bill, initiative 6347, is back in committee after the plenary returned it in April 2026.

The Constitution bars censorship and prior permission for the expression of thought through any means of dissemination; whoever fails to respect private life or morals through that freedom is responsible under the law (art. 35).

The Penal Code (Decree 17-73) punishes calumny, the false imputation of a crime prosecutable of office, with four months to two years and a fine (art. 159), and injury, any expression or act in dishonour, discredit or contempt of another, with two months to a year (art. 161).

Defamation, meaning calumny or injury made by a means of dissemination that can provoke hatred or discredit, carries two to five years (art. 164), as does knowingly reproducing another’s injuries or calumnies (art. 165).

These offences are prosecuted only on the injured party’s accusation, except where the offence is directed at an official, public authority or State institution (art. 169). Interception under Decree 21-2006 is limited to the offences of its articles 2 to 11.

The Constitution makes correspondence, documents and books inviolable, allows them to be inspected or seized only under a firm judicial resolution, and guarantees the secrecy of telephone, radio and cablegram communications and of other products of modern technology (art. 24). Under Decree 21-2006 the judge must give reasons for an interception order (art. 53) and must visit the interception personally at least once in the authorised period and record it (art. 57).

The prosecutor must report every fifteen days, and a missing or unsatisfactory report can lead to revocation (art. 59). Records are destroyed under judicial supervision a year after prosecution ends or the sentence is executed (art. 65). The order of the rows is the security score, and a server’s location is not a recommendation.