In August 2020, the Ministry of Economics, through an amendment to Art. 35 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, announced that Taiwanese companies would be prohibited from providing video streaming services originating from Chinese companies or individuals, specifically targeting iQIYI and Tencent, starting from September 2020. The regulation formally banned Taiwanese companies and individuals from acting as agents or distributors for any Chinese over-the-top (OTT) services, including television or other broadcast platforms, such as the digital television channel service Media on Demand.

According to Art. 29 of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act of Taiwan, online advertising platform operators that provide services within Taiwan but do not maintain a physical presence, residence, or established branch in the territory are legally required to appoint a legal representative located in Taiwan. This representative must be either a Taiwanese national, a legally registered corporation, or a non-corporate entity with a representative or manager domiciled in Taiwan. The operator must report the full contact details of the appointed representative to the competent authority responsible for industries related to the digital economy. The representative must be authorised to receive legal documents, assist in compliance with fraud prevention regulations, and carry out other statutory duties.
Under Art. 2.5, the term "online advertising platform operators" refers to final-stage platform operators that provide services for posting or disseminating advertisements, collect remuneration, and engage with citizens through online platforms or spaces. It is reported that this provision applies to both domestic and foreign internet platforms, including those related to social media, search engines, news, education or knowledge, dating, video, or similar services, provided they present, post, or deliver advertisements within Taiwan in quantities that meet the thresholds set by the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MoDA). At present, MoDA has designated Google, YouTube, Line, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok as regulated internet platforms. The companies operating these platforms are therefore required to comply with the legal representative appointment requirement in Taiwan.

Pursuant to Art. 8 of the Regulations on the Preparation and Management of Electronic Medical Records by Medical Institutions, when a medical institution utilises cloud services to collect, process, and use electronic medical records, the data storage location of the cloud service should, in principle, be situated in Taiwan.

Art. 44 of the Rules Governing the Administration of Electronic Payment Business, as amended in July 2021, stipulates that the information system and security management operations of an electronic payment institution must be established within the territory of Taiwan. However, this requirement does not apply where the institution satisfies specific conditions and obtains approval from the competent authority. These conditions include ensuring that the competent authority can access relevant information immediately, directly, completely, and continuously. To obtain such approval, the institution must submit documentation, including a confirmation letter from the local government authority where the offshore service provider is located, an inspection report from an independent IT auditor, a contingency plan with a supporting assessment, a supervision plan detailing oversight mechanisms, and a cost-benefit evaluation approved by the board of directors. In addition, the institution must not have been sanctioned for financial regulatory violations in the preceding year, must have addressed any deficiencies identified by regulators, and must not have any unresolved major information security breaches.
Prior to the 2021 amendment, the Rules contained a similar provision in Art. 23, which required that the information system and its backup system for the electronic payment business of specialised electronic payment institutions be established within the territory of Taiwan.

Art. 17 of the "Regulations Governing Internal Operating Systems and Procedures for the Outsourcing of Financial Institution Operation" obliges financial institutions outsourcing to overseas service providers to ensure that customer data is used strictly within the scope of the outsourced operations, kept separate from the data of the service provider and other institutions, and is accessible to the competent authority. Art. 18 mandates prior approval for outsourcing “material” retail financial business information systems abroad, requiring detailed documentation on data protection, risk management, and audit mechanisms. The term “material” refers to outsourced operations that, if disrupted or compromised, could significantly affect the financial institution’s operations or customer interests. Art. 19, which specifically addresses cloud-based services, stipulates that customer data from material retail financial systems shall, in principle, be stored within the territory of Taiwan, and if stored offshore, backups of important customer data must be retained domestically unless otherwise approved by the competent authority.

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

The Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) establishes a comprehensive framework for data protection in Taiwan. Initially introduced in 1995, the Act underwent significant amendments in 2010, with the revised version coming into force in 2012. The Enforcement Rules of the Personal Data Protection Act provide further guidelines for the interpretation and implementation of the Act. The enforcement of the PDPA is carried out by ministries, commissions, and local governments. As mandated by the Constitutional Court's 111-Shien-Pan-13 judgement, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Act in May 2023 to establish an independent supervisory mechanism for data protection. Article 1-1 of the amended PDPA specifies that the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) will serve as the competent authority for the Act, consolidating enforcement powers previously dispersed among ministries, commissions, and local governments. The Preparatory Office of the PDPC was established in December 2023, assuming responsibility for interpreting the Act from the National Development Council as of January 2024.

Art. 9 of the Telecommunications Management Act requires telecom enterprises to retain communications records such as the numbers of the sender and the recipient, time of communication, address, service type, mailbox or location information. The "Regulations on Users of Telecommunications Businesses Inquiring Communication and Account Records" were established in accordance with the stipulations of Art. 9 of the Telecommunications Management Act. Under Art. 4 of the Regulations, telecommunications enterprises must retain communication records and accounting records for at least one year.

Taiwan has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Taiwan has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

The Trade Secrets Act provides a framework for effective protection of trade secrets. According to Art. 1, trade secrets include any method, technology, process, formula, program, design, or other information that may be applied in the course of production, sales, or business operations. The information shall be protected only if commercially valuable because of its secrecy and reasonable confidentiality measures have been taken to keep it secret. In addition, according to Art. 15, the protection of trade secrets of foreign nationals is based on the principle of reciprocity. In principle, if a foreign national's home country does not deny protection to the trade secrets of Taiwan nationals, and the foreign national's trade secrets meet the requirements of Taiwan's Trade Secret Act, the foreign national will enjoy the protection of such trade secrets under Taiwan's Trade Secret Act.

Pursuant to Art. 31 of the Telecommunications Management Act entities holding a dominant position in the market are required to share their telecommunications infrastructure with other service providers. In accordance with the definition provided in Art. 3.4, this obligation also applies to passive infrastructure.

According to Art. 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act, direct foreign ownership of telecommunications services can be up to 49%, and total foreign ownership, whether direct or indirect, may not exceed 60%. These restrictions apply to entities that establish public telecommunications networks using telecommunications resources. The Telecommunications Management Act replaced the Telecommunications Act, which provided for a similar requirement for single Type I telecommunications operator (a facilities-based operator) (Art. 12). When the subordinate legislation under the Telecommunications Act will be fully repealed, the National Communications Commission will proceed with the formal repeal of the Act itself.

Chunghwa Telecom, the largest network operator in Taiwan, was originally a fully state-owned enterprise but was partially privatised in 2005, reducing the level of government's ownership. As of 2024, the government reportedly holds a 41% stake in the company. In addition, the government owns approximately 4.4% of the shares of Far Eastone Telecommunications Co., through state-linked entities, including Chunghwa Post Co. (2.9%) and the Labor Pension Fund (1.5%).

Art. 34 of the Telecommunications Management Act obliges operators with significant market power to implement accounting separation across their various service lines. However, the Act does not impose a requirement for functional separation.