According to Sections 92-94 of the Communications Act of 2016, All SIM cards in Malawi need to be registered on a central database, and a customer’s national identity number needs to be verified when purchasing, replacing, or swapping a SIM card.

Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act of 2016 provides a conditional safe harbour for intermediary service provider. Sections 25 to 30 of the Act protect an Intermediary service provider from liability to civil or criminal proceedings for any electronic information under its service provided that it neither initiated transmission of the message nor modified it, and that it was not aware of the unlawful character of the stored information.Additionally, protection is provided if the intermediary service provider expeditiously removed or disabled access to the information when served with a takedown notice issued under the Act.

Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act of 2016 provides a conditional safe harbour for intermediary service provider. Sections 25 to 30 of the Act protect an Intermediary service provider from liability to civil or criminal proceedings for any electronic information under its service provided that it neither initiated transmission of the message nor modified it, and that it was not aware of the unlawful character of the stored information.Additionally, protection is provided if the intermediary service provider expeditiously removed or disabled access to the information when served with a takedown notice issued under the Act.

Section 13 of the Access to Information Act mandates information holders to maintain information for a period of seven years from the date on which the information is generated by the institution or on which the information comes under its custody or control. If that information is exempted from disclosure, it may be kept for a longer period. Section 2 establishes that information holder means a public body and a relevant private body, and according to Section 3, this Act shall apply to information in the custody or under the control of any information holder listed in the Schedule. Among the information holders to which the Act applies are the institutions and organizations whether established by or under an Act of Parliament or otherwise, in which the Government hold shares or exercises financial or administrative control and persons in the service of those institutions and organizations, and organizations contracted by Government to do work for the Government and persons in the service of those organizations.
Furthermore, Section 17 of the Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act establishes that where any written law requires that a document, record or information shall be retained, that requirement shall be satisfied if the document, record or information is held in electronic form. Such document, record or information shall be kept in electronic form for at least seven years.

There is no data protection law in Malawi, except for data protection provisions in the Electronics and Cybersecurity Act of 2016. The Act provides, among other things, principles governing the processing of personal data, legal bases for the processing activities, data subjects' rights, and security measures that a controller must put in place when processing personal data. In March 2018, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology announced the government’s plans to enact a data protection law, however it is currently in Bill form.

Malawi has not joined any free trade agreement committing to open transfers of cross-border data flows.

Section 12.4 of the Malawi National Health Information System Policy provides a requirement for any health related data whether physical or electronic to be stored only within the borders of Malawi except for the purpose of continuation of care. Section 14.1 ascribes ownership of any health related data to the Ministry of Health. This policy was elaborated for the health sector of Malawi, i.e. public and private. The stipulations therein therefore apply to all public and private health facilities alike (Section 2).

It is reported that the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Malawi has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

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

It is reported that the government has a 20% share in Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL).

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Malawi to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements.

Section 35 of the Communications Act mandates an electronic communications licensee (Network and Application Services) to maintain a shareholding by nationals of at least 20%.

The Law in Malawi according to Sections 52 and 53 of the Electronic Transactions and CyberSecurity Act of 2016 requires cryptography services or products to be registered by the Communications Authority. Additionally, the use, importation, and exportation of encryption programs and encryption products is subject to authorisation by the government. In addition, Section 67 of the Act mandates encryption services providers to declare to the Authority the technical characteristics of the encryption means as well as the source code of the software used. Violation of these regulations is a criminal offense punishable by up by imprisonment and a fine.

Malawi has no rules applicable to the protection of trade secrets.