Chile reserves registration data for police vehicles used in intelligence

Law 21.844 obligates the Civil Registry and Identification Service to safeguard the registration data of vehicles belonging to the Public Order and Security Forces intended for investigative functions under the modalities of undercover agent or revealing agent, as well as vehicles used in intelligence and counterintelligence activities. The safeguard will be implemented through the use of fictitious identities, registration records, and histories. The regulation was published in the Official Gazette no. 44.580, on Thursday, October 22, 2026, Section I, page 1 (CVE 2888848), after being promulgated on October 14 by President José Antonio Kast Rist.

The law consists of a single article: it incorporates a second and third paragraph to article 47 of the decree with the force of law No. 1, promulgated in 2007 and published in 2009, of the ministries of Transport and Telecommunications and Justice, which establishes the consolidated text of Law No. 18.290, on Traffic. The text originated from a parliamentary motion and was dispatched by the National Congress prior to its promulgation and publication.

Which vehicles are covered

The reservation applies to two categories of government vehicles:

• Vehicles of the Public Order and Security Forces intended for investigative functions under the modalities of undercover agent or revealing agent as provided by law.
• Vehicles intended for intelligence and counterintelligence activities of police intelligence agencies, in accordance with Law No. 19.974, on the State Intelligence System and which creates the National Intelligence Agency.

In both cases, the Civil Registry and Identification Service must replace the registration information with fictitious identities, records, and histories, so that inquiries regarding those license plates do not expose the true ownership or the vehicle’s history.

Reserved request and conditions of use

The mechanism does not operate automatically. The law requires a reserved request, submitted within the scope of their competencies, by:

• The directors or heads of the police intelligence agencies.
• The prosecutor in charge of the investigation, as applicable.

The request only proceeds when the safeguard is indispensable for the success of police operations or for the safety of the agents. Thus, the reservation is limited to justified cases and does not extend to the general institutional vehicle fleet.

Regulation and one-year deadline

A regulation issued by the Ministry of Public Security, also signed by the ministries of the Interior, Justice and Human Rights, and Transport and Telecommunications, shall establish the technical and administrative measures necessary to execute the norm. That text must regulate the traceability mechanisms, accident rates, and safeguards for the proper protection of information.

The transitory article sets a deadline of one year, counted from the publication in the Official Gazette, to issue the regulation, that is, until October 22, 2027. The law was endorsed by ministers Louis de Grange Concha (Transport and Telecommunications), Claudio Alvarado Andrade (Interior), Martín Arrau García-Huidobro (Public Security), and Fernando Rabat Celis (Justice and Human Rights), and was transcribed by the acting Undersecretary of Transport, José Ignacio Blumel Mac Iver.

The promoters of the initiative

The motion that gave rise to the law was presented by the senators:

• Iván Flores García
• Yasna Provoste Campillay
• Sebastián Keitel Bianchi
• Manuel José Ossandón Irarrázabal

Impact

The norm changes the logic of vehicle registration: for the first time, the license plate data of police vehicles may be fictitious, which affects any registration procedure or inquiry regarding those units and forces the police, the prosecutor’s offices, and the Civil Registry and Identification Service to coordinate a confidential procedure. Effective compliance will depend on the regulation that must be issued within a year, the content of which will define the traceability of the vehicles and the safeguards to prevent the confidentiality from interfering with the investigation of accidents.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, no. 44,580, Thursday, October 22, 2026, Section I (General Norms), page 1 (official reference: CVE 2888848).