GuatemalaCódigo Penal, Decreto 17-73, Arts. 274 'A' a 274 'G' (Delitos Informáticos)
Decreto Legislativo No. 17-73 (Código Penal), arts. 274 A a 274 G, Delitos Informáticos
In force.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
- Enforcement body
- Ministerio Público (public prosecution service)
- Obligation class
- Access restriction, Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Do not, without authorization, use another's computerized records, or enter by any means their data bank or electronic archives (art. 274 'F'); whether reading a public, unauthenticated page counts as unauthorized use or entry has not been tested by a Guatemalan court.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Do not destroy, erase, or render useless another's computer records or the programs a computer uses, and do not distribute destructive programs capable of damaging computerized records, programs, or equipment.no control in the NIST AI RMF
- Do not create a data bank or computerized record containing data that could affect a person's privacy.NIST AI RMFMEASURE 2.10
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
In the frameworks
- NIST AI RMF
- MAP 4.1Approaches for mapping AI technology and legal risks of its components – including the use of third-party data or software – are in place, followed, and documented, as are risks of infringement of a third party’s intellectual property or other rights.
- MEASURE 2.10Privacy risk of the AI system – as identified in the MAP function – is examined and documented.
- NIST AI 600-1
- GAI-RISK-09Information Security
- GAI-RISK-12Value Chain and Component Integration
- OWASP LLM Top 10
- LLM03:2026Excessive Agency
- OWASP Agentic Top 10
- ASI03Identity and Privilege Abuse
- MIT mitigations Draft
- NIST Privacy Framework
- CT.PO-P1Policies, processes, and procedures for authorizing data processing (e.g., organizational decisions, individual consent), revoking authorizations, and maintaining authorizations are established and in place.
- FINOS AIGF
- AIR-PREV-018Agent Authority Least Privilege Framework
- AIR-PREV-023Agentic System Credential Protection Framework
- ETSI EN 304 223
- 5.1.2-6Access the AI system gets to other systems and data sources is minimal and risk assessed.
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework, and in the NIST AI RMF, line by line beside each duty above. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law
Identifiers refer to ETSI EN 304 223 V2.1.1 (2025-12), © ETSI 2025, all rights reserved. ETSI owns the standard; no ETSI text (titles or sentences) is reproduced here. The standard is free to download from ETSI.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
Article 274 'F' (unauthorized use of or entry into another's computerized records) carries six months' to two years' imprisonment and a fine of two hundred to one thousand quetzales. The chapter's other sub-articles carry different ranges: 274 'A' and 274 'G' up to four years and a two-thousand-quetzal fine (274 'A' raised by a third for a public service or official record); 274 'B' the same as 274 'A'; 274 'C' up to four years and a twenty-five-hundred-quetzal fine; 274 'D' up to four years and a one-thousand-quetzal fine; 274 'E' up to five years and a three-thousand-quetzal fine.
Penalty structure
Fine range under art. 274 'F' (uso de información), the sub-article closest to unauthorized access. Imprisonment of six months to two years accompanies the fine. The chapter's other sub-articles carry different, generally higher, fine ranges up to Q3,000.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Minimum
- 200
- Currency
- GTQ
- Fixed cap
- 1,000
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Articles 274 'A' to 274 'G' of the Código Penal define computer offences: destroying or altering records and programs, copying programs, creating a prohibited register, manipulating information, using another's records without authorization, and distributing destructive programs. They impose no duty to create, keep, produce or review a log or record. The articles state no territorial clause of their own, and the Code's general territorial articles are not invoked by them.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Articles 274 'A' through 274 'G' were added to the Código Penal by Decreto 33-96 and punish seven distinct computer-related acts. Article 274 'A' punishes destroying, erasing, or otherwise rendering useless computer records, with the penalty raised by a third when the information is necessary for a public service or is an official record. Article 274 'B' punishes altering, erasing, or rendering useless the instructions or programs computers use.
Article 274 'C' punishes copying or reproducing computer instructions or programs without the author's authorization. Article 274 'D' punishes creating a data bank or computerized record with data that could affect a person's privacy. Article 274 'E' punishes using computerized records or programs to hide, alter, or distort information required for a commercial activity, a duty to the State, or a person's financial statements.
Article 274 'F', the provision closest to a general unauthorized-access offense, punishes using another's computerized records without authorization, or entering, by any means, their data bank or electronic archives without authorization; it does not on its own terms require defeating a technical security measure. Article 274 'G' punishes distributing or circulating destructive programs or instructions capable of harming computerized records, programs, or equipment. No commencement clause or commencement notice for Decreto 33-96 has been located.
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