According to Art. 22 of the Data Protection Act 2019, personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside Barbados unless that country or territory provides for: (i) an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of their personal data; and (ii) appropriate safeguards on condition that the rights of the data subject are enforceable and there are available, effective legal remedies for data subjects.

Barbados has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Under Section 75.1 of the Income Tax Act 1969, every person carrying on business and every person who is or may be required by the Act to collect or pay a tax or other amount shall keep records and books of account, including an annual inventory, in Barbados, in such form and containing such information as will enable the taxes payable under the Act or the taxes or other amounts that should have been deducted, withheld or collected to be determined.

Section 170 of the Companies Act 1982 lists a series of registers and records that must be maintained at a company's registered office or at some other place in Barbados designated by the directors of the company, including minutes of meetings and resolutions of shareholders, the name and latest known address of shareholders, and a register showing the name and latest known address of each person to whom privileges, options or rights have been granted. In addition, under Section 172 of the Companies Act, adequate accounting records and records containing minutes of meetings and resolutions of the directors and any committees of the directors shall be kept at the registered office of the company or at some other place in Barbados designated by the directors. Furthermore, according to Section 172.3, when any accounting records of a company are kept at a place outside Barbados, accounting records that are adequate to enable the directors to ascertain the financial position of the company with reasonable accuracy on a quarterly basis must be kept at the company's registered office or at some other place in Barbados designated by the directors.

Under Section 13.1.b of the International Trusts Act 1995, a trustee of an international trust created under Section 10 shall keep in Barbados a register in which the following information is set out: the name of the settlor, a summary of the purposes of the trust, the name of the protector of the trust, and such documents as are necessary to show the true financial position of the trust.

Barbados has only partially appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the Telecommunications Unit, the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Barbados mandates functional and accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

Barbados lacks a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. The Protection Against Unfair Competition Act, under Art. 8.2, governs the treatment of "secret information". According to this, information is deemed secret if it meets the following criteria: (i) it is not generally known among, or easily accessible to, individuals who would typically possess knowledge of or access to such information, considering both its overall structure and specific components. (ii) it holds commercial value due to its confidential nature, and (iii) the rightful owner has taken reasonable measures under the given circumstances to maintain its secrecy.

There is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in the country to deliver telecom services to end users. However, it is practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements.

Copyright is not adequately enforced online in the country. It is reported that Barbados does not enforce intellectual property judgments, there is poor enforcement of existing legislation, and there are long-standing delays in the judicial system.

Barbados has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Barbados has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Barbados is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Barbados has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows the fair dealing model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. According to Art. 53 of the Copyright Act, the concept of fair dealing is regulated as a general exception within the law, subject to particular conditions including: (i) the nature of the work in question; (ii) the extent and proportion of that part of the work affected by the act in relation to the whole of the work; (iii) the purpose and character of use; and (iv) the effect of the act upon the potential market for, or the commercial value, of the work. Moreover, Arts. 51 and 52 further clarify that there are exceptions to copyright regulation in Barbados, including the use for research, private study, and criticism, among others.