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

The Personal Data Protection Act provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Tanzania. It contains detailed provisions imposing obligations on data controllers and data processors, including requirements associated with data security and international data transfers, and establishes the Personal Data Protection Commission.

Section 13 of the Online Content Regulations (2020) requires internet cafe operators to:
- keep a proper service user register and ensure every person using internet service is registered upon showing a recognised identity card;
- install surveillance cameras to record and archive activities inside the cafe.
The images recorded by a surveillance camera and the register of users recorded shall be kept for a period of 12 months.

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

Tanzania does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets. It is reported that the protection of trade secrets is mostly by way of common law and equity in the form of judicial decisions.

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Tanzania to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

Tanzania is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), nor does it have observer status.

Section 22 (b) of the Licensing Regulations, 2018 stipulated that the majority shareholders (51%) of the Content Service Licensee should be Tanzanian citizens. The Content Licensee, under the regulations, is an entity authorised to provide radio or television broadcasting free to air or content services by subscription. According to Art. 27, a content services licence for subscription includes "Channel aggregation", that is the packaging of individual licensed or authorized channels into a specific basket of channels for distribution by a multiplex operator. The latter is a digital transmission channel which combines program material and other data in a digital form for transmission via a frequency channel.

Section 22 of the Electronic and Postal Communications (Licensing) Regulations stipulates that foreign investment in the telecommunications sector is restricted to a maximum of 75%.

Under the Patents (Registration) Act Cap 217 R.E 2002, foreigners may obtain the same protection as nationals of Tanzania. However, according to Art. 18 of the law, applicants not residing in Tanzania must appoint a patent attorney domiciled in the country to represent the applicant before the Patent Office. In addition, according to Art. 26, foreign parties may pay the required fees only through a patent agent domiciled in Tanzania.

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

The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act provides a clear regime of copyright exceptions that refers to the concept of "fair practice", which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Sections 12 and 26 list the exceptions, which include utilisation for the purposes of education and utilisation by way of illustration in an original work of an author or authors, provided that the extent of such utilisation is compatible with fair practice, among others.

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

Tanzania is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).