This study highlights the imperative need for comprehensive transparency about ecosystems that is called for in Information Systems (IS) and regulatory research. As response, we introduce a novel interdisciplinary perspective based on the architecture concept from the IS field. The aim of this research is to disclose legal uncertainties and critical spots through the lens of ecosystem architectures. For this, exemplary socio-techno-legal assessments of eBay’s and Google News’ ecosystem architectures allowed to identify relevant implications for the regulatory frameworks of the European General Data Protection Regulation and the German Interstate Media Treaty. The theoretical contributions include innovative dimensions in ecosystem modeling, an extension of existing interdisciplinary approaches, and the revelation of less-explored illicit practices within ecosystem research. Practical implications focus on fortifying regulatory frameworks to encompass ecosystem practices and fostering improvements in legal compliance of organizations.