The "Federal Law for the Protection of Personal Data in the Possession of Private Parties" applies conditions to transfers of personal data, which apply regardless of whether the data is transferred to national or foreign third parties. For any transfer, the company must inform those third parties of the privacy notice and the purposes for which the data subject has authorised the processing of their data (Art. 35). According to Art. 2, the privacy notice is the document made available to the data subject in physical, electronic, or any other format at the time their personal data are collected, with the purpose of informing them of the intended uses of their data. Art. 35 also requires that the processing of personal data follow the terms set out in the privacy notice, which must specify whether the data subject consents to the transfer, and the receiving third party must assume the same obligations as the transferring controller. Art. 36 further establishes that national or international data transfers may take place without the data subject’s consent when specific conditions are met, including when the transfer is required by law or treaty, necessary for medical prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or healthcare management, carried out within a corporate group under common control, required by a contract concluded or to be concluded in the data subject’s interest, necessary or legally mandated to safeguard the public interest or to pursue or administer justice, required for the recognition, exercise, or defence of a right in judicial proceedings, or necessary for maintaining or fulfilling a legal relationship between the controller and the data subject.
Similar limitations on the transfer of personal data were already contained in the earlier statute of the same name, now repealed, where comparable provisions were set out in Arts. 36 and 37.

Mexico has joined several agreements with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders. These include: the Mexico-Panama Free Trade Agreement (Art. 14.10), the First Amending Protocol [which amends the Additional Protocol to the Framework Agreement of the Pacific Alliance (Arts. 13.11 and. 13.12(c)], the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP, Art. 14.11.2), and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, Art. 19.8.6).

The new Federal Law for the Protection of Personal Data in the Possession of Private Parties, enacted in 2025, establishes a comprehensive framework for data protection in Mexico. It supersedes the 2010 law of the same name, which had likewise introduced an extensive regime governing the protection of personal data.

Under section 183 of the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Act, telecom operators must retain certain data for the first 12 months in systems that allow real-time consultation and delivery to the competent authorities through electronic means. The data includes:
- the name or corporate name and address of the subscriber;
- the type of communication service, messaging or multimedia services
- data necessary to trace and identify the original and destination of mobile telephone communications, including the destination number and whether the line is the subject of a contract or tariff plan or is prepaid;
- data necessary to determine the date, time and duration of the communication, as well as the messaging or multimedia service;
- the date and time of the first activation of the service and the location label (cell identifier) ​​since the service was activated;
- identification and technical characteristics of the devices, including the international equipment and subscriber identity codes (where applicable); and
- the digital location of the geographical positioning of telephone lines.
At the end of the 12 months, the operator must keep the data for an additional 12 months in electronic storage systems. During this time, information must be delivered to the competent authorities within 48 hours.
It reported that all processing and storage systems used by operators and authorised persons in this regard must be located exclusively in Mexico; however, this is not clear from the regulatory text.

It is reported that copyright enforcement in Mexico remains insufficient in the online environment. Stakeholders indicate that Mexico continues to experience high levels of infringement through multiple channels, including unauthorised streaming services, peer-to-peer networks, direct-download sites, stream-ripping, circumvention tools for video games and consoles, and the distribution of infringing content via physical media. As internet access expands, online piracy is reported to be increasing, and stakeholders have characterised Mexico as a significant market for music and video game piracy. Stakeholders also continue to report notable levels of piracy facilitated by illicit streaming devices and unauthorised Internet Protocol television (IPTV) applications.

Mexico has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

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

Mexico’s Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property establishes a framework for trade secret protection, including safeguards against unlawful disclosure. The Law provides for both administrative and criminal enforcement mechanisms, including administrative infringements (Art. 386) and criminal offences relating to trade secrets (Art. 402).
However, it is reported that the Conformity Assessment Procedure for Telecommunications and Broadcasting issued by the Plenary of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (DOF: 25 February 2020) has raised confidentiality concerns, insofar as it contemplates the submission of test reports that may contain detailed confidential information on ICT products. While the amendment to the 2021 Agreement has reportedly addressed earlier concerns about the automatic sharing of such reports, regulators may still request test reports in specific cases, which continues to generate trade secret and confidentiality risks for ICT manufacturers.

Mexico’s Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property establishes a framework for the protection of trade secrets. Title III of the Act defines trade secrets and misappropriation, recognises lawful means of acquisition, and provides administrative enforcement mechanisms to protect trade secrets.

Art. 125 of the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Act establishes a framework for infrastructure sharing. It requires the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to issue guidelines to promote, in a structured and progressive manner, co-location and the shared use of passive and active infrastructure and other physical resources, prioritising negotiated agreements between concessionaires. Where no agreement is reached, and sharing is necessary, the Commission may set the applicable technical, tariff, and operational conditions, and resolve disputes through the interconnection procedure, subject to a maximum time frame of 30 working days. The Law also requires that sharing agreements be registered in the Public Telecommunications Register.
Art. 123 further provides that operators with significant market power in the telecommunications sector are subject to specific obligations, including the obligation to conclude agreements for the shared use of infrastructure. The Law expressly repeals the previous Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law (LFTR, DOF 14/07/2014), which already contained comparable infrastructure-sharing provisions (Arts. 138 and 139) under which the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission promoted co-location and shared-use arrangements. In addition, the “Agreement issuing the Guidelines for the Deployment, Access and Shared Use of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Infrastructure” (DOF 15/01/2020) sets out operational rules, including procedures, timelines, and registration requirements, for implementing access and shared-use arrangements.

The Mexican State maintains equity participation in parts of the telecommunications sector through the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE). Following the publication of the Agreement creating CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos in the Official Gazette in August 2019, the CFE created CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos (CFE TEIT), a State-owned entity mandated to provide mobile telephony and internet services on a non-profit basis in order to support the right of access to information and communication technologies. In addition, in February 2025, CFE reported that its Board of Directors authorised the acquisition of a 49% stake in Altán Redes, a provider of wholesale mobile telephony and internet services, thereby strengthening the State’s presence in wholesale telecommunications infrastructure and operations.

Pursuant to Art. 17 of the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing and Services Act, agencies and entities involved in open international procurement processes are required to prioritise the use of domestic human resources when conditions are comparable. Furthermore, for the procurement and leasing of goods, the Act establishes a preferential margin of 15% for domestically produced goods that incorporate at least 65% national content.

Since December 2018, Mexico has pursued greater centralisation and consolidation of federal procurement under the leadership of the Secretariat of Finance (SHCP/Hacienda), framed primarily as an anti-corruption and efficiency initiative, including through consolidated purchasing. However, it is reported that procurement practices continue to rely heavily on non-open procedures and short timelines. While open tendering is formally the preferred method, contracting entities may resort to restricted invitations and direct awards under multiple exceptions, and observers report a continuing tendency to avoid open international tenders in favour of invitation-based processes that may subsequently result in direct awards. Foreign firms further report that tender specifications and compliance requirements vary across entities, and that bids may be rejected for late submission or minor formal or technical defects, effectively compressing the time available for bid preparation. Reports also indicate that the use of exceptions, including shortened procurement windows and sole-source awards, remains common.

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

There are no foreign ownership limitations in sectors relevant for digital trade.