The Dominican Republic has barred government institutions from using artificial intelligence for mass biometric identification in public spaces without a court order, under a decree signed by President Luis Abinader on November 2 that sets binding rules for how the state uses the technology.
Decree 787-26 approves an Artificial Intelligence Ethics Code for Public Services, which applies to all bodies, institutions and public companies in the centralized and decentralized public administration. The code was developed in a process led by the Government Office of Information and Communication Technologies (Ogtic) and the Directorate General of Government Ethics and Integrity (Digeig), with technical support from the Open Government Partnership, and the government says it aligns with UNESCO and OECD standards.
The code’s list of strictly prohibited public-sector uses includes mass, indiscriminate biometric identification in public spaces, including face, voice and gait recognition, without a specific court order, a clearly defined legitimate purpose, a sufficient legal basis and independent oversight. The list also covers generalized social scoring, predictive criminal profiling based on place of residence, ethnic origin or socioeconomic status, autonomous criminal sentencing and autonomous weapons. The code does not ban biometric systems generally.
Other systems can go ahead only after review. Any AI system classed as high impact, meaning one that could significantly affect access to rights, eligibility for public benefits, sanctioning powers, personal safety or essential services, cannot go into production until an Ethical and Rights Impact Assessment has been completed and reviewed by the national supervisory body and a public summary has been published. High-impact systems already running must also be assessed, within a period Digeig will set. Automated systems aimed at children and adolescents carry a reinforced presumption of risk.
People will have the right to know when an AI system has supported a government procedure or administrative decision, and institutions must provide accessible channels for requesting an understandable explanation and a human review.
The code also reaches procurement. Public institutions must demand guarantees of traceability, cybersecurity and sovereign control of Dominican data from suppliers, and avoid buying “black box” systems that the state cannot audit. Commercial confidentiality clauses cannot be used to block those checks.
The decree creates a National Artificial Intelligence Ethics Council, a consultative and coordinating body made up of state institutions and nongovernmental representatives from the Open Government Multi-Stakeholder Forum. Institutions have 180 calendar days from publication to adapt their policies, procedures, systems and procurement, register the AI systems they already operate, designate responsible officials and put the required measures in place. The code creates no penalties of its own, and breaches go through existing public integrity and administrative rules.
Sources: Decree 787-26 and code, Presidencia de la República Dominicana, Revista Mercado, Diario Libre
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
