Yes, web scraping is legal in Chile when conducted within the bounds of copyright law, data protection regulations, and contractual terms. The absence of explicit anti-scraping statutes does not confer immunity; scraping publicly accessible data does not inherently grant rights to repurpose or commercialize it without consent. The Law on the Protection of Personal Data (Law No. 19,628) and the Consumer Protection Law (Law No. 19,496) impose indirect constraints, particularly when scraping involves personal or proprietary data. Recent amendments to the Digital Economy Framework (2026 draft) signal stricter enforcement, emphasizing transparency and user consent in automated data collection.
Key Regulations for Web Scraping in Chile
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Copyright Law (Law No. 17,336): Unauthorized scraping of copyrighted content—including text, images, or databases—violates exclusive rights unless covered by fair use exceptions (e.g., criticism, news reporting). The National Copyright Directorate (DINAC) actively monitors violations, with penalties up to 5,000 UTM (~$450,000 USD).
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Data Protection (Law No. 19,628): Scraping personal data (e.g., emails, IDs) without a lawful basis (e.g., public interest, explicit consent) risks fines up to 10,000 UTM (~$900,000 USD). The Agencia de Protección de Datos Personales (2025) now requires data controllers to document scraping purposes under Article 4.
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Terms of Service & Contracts: Violating website robots.txt or scraping behind login walls breaches contract law (Código Civil). Courts (e.g., Corte Suprema, 2024 ruling on Cencosud v. Scraper) have upheld injunctions against scrapers, even for public data, if terms prohibit automated access.