Section 13 of the Data Privacy Act provides that the processing of sensitive data and privileged information is prohibited, except in some cases, including when data subjects have given their consent, existing laws and regulations provide for the processing of the same, the processing is necessary to protect the life and health of the data subject or another person, the processing is necessary to achieve the lawful and non-commercial objectives of public organisations and their associations, and the processing is necessary for purposes of medical treatment.

According to Circular No. 899, offshore outsourcing of a bank's domestic operations is permitted only when the service provider operates in jurisdictions which uphold confidentiality. When the service provider is located in other countries, the bank should take into account and closely monitor, on a continuing basis, government policies and other conditions in the countries where the service provider is based during the risk assessment process.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Central Bank of Philippines) examiners shall be given access to the service provider and those relating to the bank's outsourced domestic operations. Such access may be fulfilled by on-site examination through coordination with host authorities, if necessary.

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

Personal data in the Philippines is regulated under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (RA 10175).

RA 10175 mandates that “traffic data and subscriber information relating to communication services shall be kept, retained, and preserved by a service provider for a minimum period of six months from the date of the transaction.” This minimum data retention requirement, while under judicial or investigative procedure, is costly for the service provider.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) regulations require telecommunications entities to retain call traffic data on the origin, destination, date, time and duration of communications and to retain data within the following periods: two months for non-metered services with fixed monthly charges; four months for other telecommunications services; or until excused by the NTC for records requested in connection with pending complaints.

RA 10173 requires that “any natural or juridical person or other body involved in the processing of personal data [to] designate an individual or individuals who shall function as data protection officers.” This requirement can impose additional trade costs on firms since data privacy compliance is a horizontally-applied measure.

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

The Philippines lacks a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. According to Section 4 of the Intellectual Property Code, the protection of undisclosed information as an independent Intellectual Property right is recognised. In addition, the Revised Penal Code prohibits the unauthorised revelation of secrets or confidential information by either private individuals or public officers. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruling (Air Philippines Corporation v. Pennswell, Inc.) has extensively discussed the concept and defined a trade secret as a plan or process, tool, mechanism or compound known only to its owner and those of employees to whom it is necessary to confide it.

It is reported that there is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in the Philippines to deliver telecom services to end users, and it is not practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

It is reported that the Philippines does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation.

According to Section 16 of the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines, no person shall commence or conduct the business of being a public telecommunications entity without first obtaining a franchise. The National Telecommunications Commission, in granting a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN), may impose such conditions as to duration and termination of the privilege, concession, or standard or technical aspects of the equipment, rates, or service, not contrary to the terms of the franchise.
As established in Article XII of the Philippine Constitution, franchises may only be granted to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations or associations organised under Philippine laws, and they may only be granted by Congress.
In addition to the requirements mentioned above, according to the National Telecommunications Commission, a radio operator is also subject to file 15 other documents, including an Issuance of Renewal/Modification/Duplicate of Radio Stations in the Fixed and Land Mobile Public Radio Communication Network (CP) an On-line Importation Process (For Customer Premises equipment with WDN/RFID Module) thru the National Single Window (NSW) System.

DICT Circular No. 02 s 2021 provides for the licensing and regulation of satellite systems providers and operators (SSPOs) for internet services. Under Sections 7 and 8, SSPOs desiring to provide satellite services by directly engaging with ISPs, value-added service providers, enfranchised telecommunications entities or public telecommunications entities, and broadcast service providers (authorised entities) shall have an adequate digital presence in the Philippines, such as having a readily accessing website with sufficient content and information; have an adequate local presence by setting up a branch or representative office, having an institutional agent or official distributor, or a combination of such modes; have the capacity, coverage and satellite footprint in the Philippines for the purposes of providing adequate satellite services to covered areas; be accredited by the Department of Information and Communications Technology; and be a national of a country that does not prohibit Philippine satellites to operate within its territories and does not prohibit its citizens or subjects to access Philippine satellite systems.

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

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