Art. 21 of the Law on Personal Data Protection stipulates that personal data controllers, as well as entities acting as both controllers and processors, are required to establish and retain a record of the personal data processing impact assessment. One original copy of this assessment must be submitted to the competent personal data protection authority within 60 days of the commencement of personal data processing. The personal data processing impact assessment is conducted once and applies for the entire duration of the operations of the personal data controller or of the entity acting as both controller and processor.
In addition, pursuant to Art. 33.2 of the Law, agencies and organisations are responsible for designating dedicated units and personnel with adequate capacity to ensure personal data protection, or for engaging external organisations or individuals to provide personal data protection services.
Arts. 24, 28.2, and 30.1.b of Decree No. 13/2023/ND‑CP already contain substantially similar requirements. That Decree is scheduled to be repealed in 2026, concurrently with the entry into force of the Law on Personal Data Protection.

Under Decree No. 121/2008/ND-CP, equity caps applicable to foreign investment are based on WTO commitments. That is, for fixed and mobile communications, as well as Internet services, the maximum foreign equity shares are set at 49% in facilities-based services (i.e. telecom sector with infrastructure facilities). The threshold may increase up to 65% for non-facilities-based services (i.e. telephony services with no network infrastructure) and 70% for VPN services after a three-year investing period in Vietnam.

Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP contains several provisions requiring companies to provide user data directly to state authorities upon request, without expressly requiring a warrant or judicial authorisation. Art. 19.4 mandates that agencies, organisations, enterprises, and individuals utilising Internet resources must supply information and cooperate with competent authorities upon request. Art. 23.3.dd further provides that foreign organisations, enterprises, and individuals engaged in the cross-border provision of information to users in Vietnam, where they either lease data storage services within Vietnam or receive an average of at least 100,000 monthly visits from Vietnam over six consecutive months, are obliged to furnish information concerning service users in Vietnam to the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Public Security, and other competent authorities upon written request, for the purposes of state management as well as the investigation and handling of legal violations. Art. 35.9 imposes a similar obligation on providers of social networking services to disclose user information to competent authorities upon written request in order to facilitate the investigation and resolution of violations relating to Internet services and online information. Finally, Art. 79.2 requires telecommunications enterprises and Internet service providers to supply information and data relating to subscribers suspected of online legal violations, enabling the accurate identification of relevant organisations and individuals, upon requests issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications or the Ministry of Public Security.

Under Decree No. 121/2008/ND-CP, equity caps applicable to foreign investment are based on WTO commitments. That is, for fixed and mobile communications, as well as Internet services, the maximum foreign equity shares are set at 49% in facilities-based services (i.e. telecom sector with infrastructure facilities). The threshold may increase up to 65% for non-facilities-based services (i.e. telephony services with no network infrastructure) and 70% for VPN services after a three-year investing period in Vietnam.

Art. 11 of Decree No. 25/2011/ND-CP regulates the cross-border supply of telecommunications services to the Vietnamese market. The provision of telecommunications services across the border to users of telecommunications services in Vietnam must be through a commercial agreement with a Vietnamese telecommunications enterprise that has been licensed to provide international telecommunication services.

Art. 24 of the Law on Investment specifies that foreign investment in economic organisations must be conditional upon ensuring national defence and security in compliance with this Law. It is reported that the government periodically intervenes to prevent foreign investment when it is deemed to pose a threat to Vietnam’s national security.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) plays a key role in investment screening. All foreign direct investment (FDI) projects require approval from the People’s Committee in the province where the project will be located. Additionally, large-scale FDI projects must secure approval from the National Assembly before proceeding. MPI’s approval process involves a comprehensive assessment of the investor’s legal status and financial strength, the project’s alignment with the government’s long- and short-term economic development and revenue goals, the investor’s technological expertise, environmental protection measures, and, if applicable, plans for land use and land clearance compensation.

Art. 31 of the Law on Investment stipulates that the Prime Minister shall grant approval for projects initiated by foreign investors in the provision of telecommunication services involving network infrastructure. The approval entails the endorsement by a competent state authority of the objectives, location, scope, implementation timeline and duration of the investment project, the investor or method of investor selection, and any special mechanisms or policies (if applicable) for the project's implementation.

Art. 37.4 of Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP requires the establishment of a commercial presence for the provision of cross-border online game services. It stipulates that foreign organisations and individuals providing online video game services to users in Vietnam, including through cross-border delivery, must establish an enterprise in accordance with Vietnamese law in order to provide such services, in compliance with this Decree and the regulations governing outward investment. Consequently, the cross-border provision of online games, in the absence of such establishment, is effectively prohibited.

Pursuant to the provisions of Art. 61.1 of Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce, one of the conditions for conducting credit rating of e-commerce websites is being a trader or an organisation established under Vietnamese law.

Patent applications by non-Vietnamese residents must be filed via recognised Vietnamese patent agents. According to Art. 89 of Law No. 50/2005/QH11 on Intellectual Property Rights, and Art. 4 of Circular 23/2023/Vietnam on Industrial property, non-Vietnamese residents, organisations or companies without business entities in Vietnam must apply for industrial property rights via legal representatives in Vietnam. Legal representatives must meet the criteria as regulated in Article 154 of the Law. The Parliament of Vietnam amended certain parts of Law No. 50/2005/QH11 with Law No. 36/2009/QH12, and such regulation remains.

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

Vietnam’s copyright regime is governed by Law No. 50/2005/QH11 on Intellectual Property Rights and supplemented by Decree 17/2023 on Copyright. However, the exceptions outlined in this framework do not adhere to the fair use or fair dealing models, thereby restricting the lawful use of copyrighted works by others. Art. 25 of Law No. 50/2005/QH11 enumerates these exceptions, with Decree 17/2023 providing further clarification on their application. Notable exceptions include the recitation of works without distorting the author's views in articles for newspapers or periodicals, radio or television broadcasts, or documentaries, as well as the use of works in schools for teaching purposes, provided it does not misrepresent the author’s views and is not for commercial gain, among others.

It is reported that Vietnam is a major source of online piracy and continues to host some of the most prominent English‑language copyright‑infringing websites and services worldwide, many of which target an international audience. The operators of these platforms are widely believed to be based in Vietnam, partly because of the perception that the country offers a relatively permissive environment for online piracy. Stakeholders report that Vietnam has the highest incidence of online piracy in the Asia‑Pacific region, one of the highest levels of music piracy globally, and is ranked seventh worldwide for participation in the piracy of certain video games. Although right holders welcomed landmark criminal convictions in two online piracy cases, as well as the Fmovies case, in which Vietnam’s enforcement authorities cooperated with United States enforcement authorities and other stakeholders to shut down Fmovies and associated piracy sites, all defendants received suspended sentences and were required to pay only comparatively modest financial penalties.

Vietnam has adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Vietnam has adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.