The Postal and Telecommunications Act allows the government to intercept ostensibly suspicious communications (Section 98) and requires a telecommunications licensee, such as an ISP, to supply information to government officials upon request. It is not clear whether a court order is required.

In Zimbabwe, state-owned companies play a dominant role in the telecommunications sector. The government owns a significant stake in two of the three mobile service providers, including full ownership of NetOne and 60% of Telecel through Zimbabwe Academic Research and Education Network (ZARNet), a government-owned internet service provider and government agency. In addition, the state owns the only fixed-line service provider, TelOne. As for the main operators of the national network infrastructure, TelOne controls about 24% of the country's bandwidth capacity and about 23% of the revenues generated by the Internet. On the other hand, Powertel, belonging to the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, controlled 4.3% of the country's bandwidth capacity.

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

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, according to Section 36 of the Postal and Telecommunications Act, only issues telecommunications licenses to legal entities in which Zimbabwean citizens hold a "controlling interest", directly or indirectly. However, a license may be issued to a legal entity without such a majority shareholding, provided that within a time period set out in the license, one or more such persons acquire a majority shareholding. A "controlling interest" means that any of the following conditions are met: holding a majority of the shares of the entity; the shares represent more than 50% of the share capital of the entity; the shares are worth more than half of the share capital of the entity; or the shares give their holders a majority or a preponderance of votes in the affairs of the entity.
In addition, the Postal and Telecommunications (Licensing, Registration and Certification) Regulations mandate that Public Licensees with foreign shareholding pay initial license fees in USD proportionate to the foreign shareholding percentage (Subitem 12 in second schedule-Part I). This is in contrast to the fixed scheduled initial fees payable by public licensees without foreign shareholding. By implication, the higher the shareholding proportion by foreigners, the higher the initial fees. Furthermore, the Regulations establish two categories for internet service providers in Zimbabwe. Class A is permitted to offer services like international bandwidth sales, VOIP, and video, while Class B is responsible for nationwide Internet provision. Applicants for Class A licenses are required to pay a registration fee of USD 5.5 million, as increased under the 2020 amendment of the Regulations, while the fee for Class B licenses is set at USD 2.75 million. Licenses for cell phone services involve significantly higher costs, with an establishment fee of USD 137.5 million.

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

Zimbabwe has a telecommunications authority: The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ). However, it is reported that this entity is not fully independent.

Section 8 of the Postal and Telecommunications (Subscriber Registration) Regulations of 2014 stipulated that subscriber information in the telecom sector must not be transferred outside the Republic of Zimbabwe. An amendment in 2019 introduced new provisions. According to the revised Section 8, if transferring subscriber information to a foreign host becomes necessary or unavoidable for operational purposes, the service provider must ensure that the data is encrypted to prevent it from being read by the foreign host. The local service provider is required to retain the encryption keys to prevent unauthorised access. Additionally, before entering into any storage arrangement, the service provider must submit a report on data protection measures and hosting agreements to the relevant authority. In addition, the service provider must obtain clear, affirmative consent in writing from the subscriber for the transfer of personal data and must not sell, trade, or share the transferred data.
Reports indicate that the approvals of the regulators for data transfers are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Sections 28 and 29 of the Cyber and Data Protection Act establish a framework for the cross-border transfer of data. Data can be transferred to countries that offer adequate protection. In addition, data can be transferred if it is in the public interest to do so. The data subject must provide consent for their information to be transferred. However, this consent may also be implied or offered ambiguously.
Moreover, Section 11 of the Cyber and Data Protection Act prohibits the processing of sensitive personal information unless with the consent of the data subject or where processing is for legitimate purposes. Sensitive data, according to Section 3, includes social, political, and cultural information, as well as health and genetic information, and any information which may be considered as presenting a significant risk to the rights of the data subject.

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

Zimbabwe has a comprehensive regime of data protection in place: the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07] was promulgated with the policy objective of data privacy and protection of all data collected by Data Controllers both within and outside Zimbabwe depending on the location of the means used to process the said data. The Act seeks to shield the privacy of such information and regulate the way in which such information is stored, used and disclosed.

Sections 4-7 of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulations mandate ICT service providers to obtain, record and store personal information of juristic and natural persons who are registered with these entities. Such a register is to be known as a Subscriber Register. The register is to be provided to POTRAZ or any state agency upon request and without delay. Furthermore, the regulation provides for the establishment of a Central Subscriber Database, which is the consolidated portal for personal information gathered from subscribers.

The Interception of Communications Act provides wide-ranging powers to state security agencies to have access to personal data. Section 5 mandates that intelligence, defence, police, and prison services request warrants of interception from the executive in charge of postal and telecommunication services. Section 9 of the Interception of Communications Act instructs ISPs to install necessary surveillance technologies and intercept any content that the state may deem fit. In addition, Section 9 obliges data services providers and processors to cooperate with the state in enabling data access. To this end, data processors are instructed to capture full personal information, regularly update it, and use technologies that can be intercepted.
It is reported that warrants allowing the monitoring and interception of communications are issued by the Minister of Information at their discretion. Consequently, there is no adequate judicial oversight or other independent safeguard against abuse, and the extent and frequency of monitoring remains unknown.

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

Section 11 of the Interception of Communications Act allows security and law enforcement agencies to impose disclosure requirements in respect of encrypted information where they believe that a key to encrypted information is in the possession of that person and that a disclosure requirement is necessary in the interests of national security, to prevent or detect a serious criminal offence, or in the interests of the country’s economic well being. Failure to comply is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment, a fine, or both.

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