Art. 29 of Law No. 200 establishes that media licences are only granted to Nicaraguan natural or legal persons or to joint stock companies with at least 51% participation of Nicaraguan nationals. Prior to amendment 326 to Art. 29, this restriction applied to all licences for the provision of telecommunications services.

It is reported that Nicaragua does not mandate functional or accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

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

There is no executive authority in Nicaragua for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector that is completely independent of the government in the decision-making process. Art. 1 of Decree-Law No. 1053 - Organic Law of the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services (Decreto Ley No. 1053 - Ley Orgánica del Instituto Nicaragüense de Telecomunicaciones y Correos) establishes the "Instituto Nicaragüense de Telecomunicaciones y Correos" (TELCOR, Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services) as the main regulatory body for telecommunications providers. The Institute is meant to operate as a decentralised entity with independent assets. However, it is reported that TELCOR fails to uphold principles of neutrality and independence as it is essentially a government institution, and it responds to government policies. In this regard, the highest authority of the Institute is appointed by the president and, although according to the Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua (Art. 138, Para. 30), all such appointments must be reviewed and approved by the National Assembly, it is reported that this has never happened in practice.

According to Art. 14 of the Personal Data Protection Law, the assignment and transfer of personal data of any kind to countries or international organisations that do not provide adequate levels of security and protection is prohibited. Art. 14 further states that the transfer to foreign countries is allowed in certain circumstances, including international judicial collaboration, exchange of personal data in health matters, bank or stock transfers, agreed transfer within international treaties, or international cooperation between intelligence agencies regarding crimes regulated in Law No. 735 for the prosecution of organised crime.

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

The Personal Data Protection Law and the regulation of such law constitute the framework for data protection. Moreover, the Political Constitution of Nicaragua also provides certain general rights concerning privacy and data collection.

According to Art. 19 of the Personal Data Protection Law, all personal data shall be kept for five years, or for the term that the parties agree upon, even in the event of the personal data no longer being adequate, proportional, or necessary for the purposes that it was created.

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

According to Art. 36 of Law No. 1042, telecom providers must retain data for all users for one year. A local judge may issue an order, at the National Police or Prosecutor General’s request, to force internet providers to release specific information about an individual customer, as well as collect, extract, or record data about this customer, such as real-time data traffic.
As part of the implementation of Law No. 1042, the "Instituto Nicaragüense de Telecomunicaciones y Correos" (TELCOR, Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services) published the Administrative Agreement 001-2021 on Regulations for the Preservation of Data and Information. Art. 3 requires telecommunications companies to collect and preserve any data necessary to trace a communication; identify the recipient of a communication; identify the time, date, and duration of a communication; identify the type of communication, such as mobile phone, internet, or landline phone; identify the equipment used to conduct a communication; and identify the geolocation of the equipment used for communication. In addition, companies offering community repeaters and trunk links must be able to submit information on the services they provide. Art. 5 of the agreement further requires companies to store the relevant information for up to 12 months.

Nicaragua has a copyright regime governed by Law No. 312. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, which limits the lawful use of copyrighted works by others. Arts. 31-43 outline the exceptions, including the reproduction of copyrighted works by means of reprography for teaching purposes, the reproduction of isolated articles published in the press or short extracts from a work, the reproduction of works for private use by the blind, and the use of a work for parody purposes, among others.

Pursuant to Art. 65 of Law No. 735, service providers are obligated to design their systems in a manner that facilitates surveillance. Additionally, Art. 65 mandates that companies maintain a record of their users, which must be accessible to authorities involved in the investigation or prosecution of criminal offences. These requirements extend to both private and public entities providing telephone, computer, or other electronic communication services. Art. 45 of the Regulation of Law No. 735 specifies that the official register referenced in Art. 65 must include, at a minimum, the following information:
- The date, time, and location at which the service is provided;
- The client’s or user’s full name, along with their national identity card number, valid passport number, or student card number;
- The client’s or user’s address and telephone number;
- Identification of the service provided.
Furthermore, Art. 45 stipulates that police authorities and the Public Prosecutor's Office shall have access to this register without additional formalities as part of their official duties and powers.

Nicaragua is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996 but is not a signatory of its 2015 expansion (ITA II).