According to Arts. 3, 5, 7 and 10 of Decree No. 6832/2017, a prior import licence is required for mobile cellular telephones, including factory accessories, under NCM 8517.12.3 and 8517.12.31. Prior non-automatic import licences apply to parts and accessories for mobile phones under NCM 8517.70.99 and to standalone mobile-phone motherboards under NCM 8517.70.10. Customs may authorise importation only where the corresponding licence has been issued by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Paraguay does not require operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecommunications sector to implement functional separation. However, it is reported that SMP operators are subject to accounting separation obligations.

Law No. 642 regulates the concession, license or authorisation to provide telecommunication services. According to Art. 70 of the Law No. 642 and Art. 67 of the Decree No. 14135, concessions, licences and authorisations are subject to the payment of a concession fee, which must be paid within 60 days of their grant or renewal, on a one-off basis for each period. In order to sign the concession contract, the concessionaire must provide proof of prior payment of the concession fee, whose amount is established in the CONATEL Board Resolution No. 3523/2024 on the Procedure for Determining the Minimum Amount Payable as Licence, Authorisation, Licence Extension and Licence Renewal Fees under the Demand-Driven Regime Moreover, there is an annual fee for the commercial exploitation of the services, which can be up to 1% of the provider’s gross income. It is also reported that there is a minimum capital requirement to obtain a licence.

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

According to Law No. 642 of Telecommunications, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Art. 19 of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data establishes Paraguay’s rules on international transfers of personal data, permitting transfers (including onward transfers) only if the destination country, territory, sector or international organisation provides an adequate level of protection as determined by the National Data Protection Agency. Alternatively, transfers are permitted when controllers and processors implement appropriate safeguards, such as contractual clauses, binding corporate rules, codes of conduct or certification mechanisms, in accordance with the regulations to be adopted under the law. It also provides derogations, including transfers grounded in international treaties, judicial or intelligence cooperation to combat serious crime, contractual necessity (including authentication, service improvement, support, maintenance and billing), banking or securities transfers, health-related purposes, epidemiological studies with adequate anonymisation, and the data subject’s prior explicit consent. Although the Agency has been established, it is not yet operational, and no regulations have yet been issued.

Paraguay has joined agreements with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders. According to the Art. 7.2 of the Mercosur Agreement on E-Commerce signed by Paraguay, each Party shall permit the cross-border transfer of information when the purpose of such transfer is to realise the commercial activities of a person of a Party. Furthermore, according to the Art. 7.11 of the Free Trade Agreement between Chile and Paraguay, each Party shall permit the cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, where such activity is for the conduct of the business of a person of a Party.

Law No. 7593/25 on the Protection of Personal Data in the Republic of Paraguay provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in the country.

According to Art. 10 of Law No. 4868, intermediary service providers and data service providers shall store the connection and traffic data generated during the established communication for at least six months.

According to Art. 1 of Resolution No. 1350, telephone service providers shall store a detailed call log of all Paraguayan users for a period of six months.

In accordance with Arts. 1-3 of Resolution No. 2583/2024 of the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), which establishes the obligation for all Internet Access and Data Transmission Service licensees to retain connection records, such licensees must keep connection logs for each subscriber for a minimum period of six months, including the data necessary to identify the subscriber. The Resolution further requires licensees to store for a minimum period of six months, for each connection made by the subscriber, including the assigned IP address and, where network address translation (NAT) is used, the TCP/UDP ports employed and the date and time of the IP communication, together with the identification of the subscriber to whom the service is contracted.

According to Arts. 14 and 15 of Law No. 7593/25 on Personal Data Protection in the Republic of Paraguay, the controller must carry out a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) before any processing operation that, by its nature, scope, context or purposes, is likely to pose significant risks to data subjects’ rights. A DPIA is mandatory where:
(a) there is a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of personal aspects based on automated processing, including profiling, underpinning decisions with legal or similarly significant effects;
(b) large-scale processing of sensitive data or data on criminal convictions and offences is undertaken; or
(c) large-scale, systematic monitoring of publicly accessible areas takes place. The supervisory authority must publish a list of operations requiring a DPIA and may also issue a list of operations exempt from this requirement.
Where a DPIA shows that the envisaged processing would still involve high risk in the absence of mitigation measures, the controller must engage in prior consultation with the supervisory authority and may not commence processing until the authority has issued its opinion.
Moreover, according to Art. 4(h), the controller or processor, where applicable, shall designate a data protection officer. Art. 18 regulates the role of the data protection officer, who is responsible for supporting and supervising compliance with data protection rules.

Paraguay has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Paraguay does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. Art. 65 of the Labour Code establishes the employee's obligations to maintain strict confidentiality of technical, commercial and manufacturing secrets of the products in the production of which they are directly or indirectly involved or of which they have knowledge by reason of the work performed, as well as of administrative matters whose disclosure could be detrimental to the company. In addition, the literature indicates that in the absence of special laws for the protection of industrial secrets, Criminal Law has a role since Art. 147 of the Penal Code establishes penalties for the disclosure of "other people's" secrets and industrial or trade secrets.