Art. 4 of Law No. 51 establishes that mobile telephone operators, their subsidiaries and authorized agents that commercialize services with activity systems through the prepaid card modality must keep a record of the identity or general information provided by their customers who acquire a telephone unit or smart card (SIM) with such payment modality.

Arts. 88-91 of Law No. 51 provides a safe harbor that shields network operators, service providers, online trade service providers and storage service providers from responsibility. In addition, a safe harbor provision also forms a substantial part of the intellectual property chapter in the FTA entered into between the United States of America and Panama (Art. 15.11, para. 27).

The Personal Data Protection Law provides a comprehensive data protection regime. The law applies any person in charge of data processing who is domiciled in Panama and any foreign companies' ongoing commercial online activities targeting Panamanian market.

Under Art. 5 of Law No. 81, the transfer of personal data of a confidential, sensitive or restricted nature by the company responsible for the database or its custodian shall be permitted, provided that the company and/or its country of residence provide a level of protection comparable to that of Law No. 81; or if the transferring entity takes all necessary steps to ensure that the data will be protected in a manner consistent with the Law No. 81 through contracts, codes of conduct or applicable international standards. Art. 5 lists the following exemptions: when the data subject has given his/her consent; in the case of bank, money, stock market or securities transfers; when the transfer of the information is required by law or in order to comply with international treaties ratified by the Republic of Panama; and when the transfer is necessary for the conclusion or execution of a contract concluded or to be celebrated by the interested party or in their interest.

Panama has taken commitment covering cross-border data flow in the Free Trade Agreement between the United Mexican States and the Republic of Panama (Art.14.10).

Panama has not appended the WTO Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

According to Art. 11 of Decree-Law No. 10, the National Telecommunications Directorate, the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Resolution No. 52, issued by the Panamanian Authority for Government Innovation in September 2021, requires government entities with mission-critical or sensitive data in the cloud to transition such data to in-country storage facilities by end of December 2022. However, according to foreign companies and cloud service providers, the Resolution has not had a material impact on their operations in Panama and enforcement mechanisms have not been implemented.

According to Art. 8 of Law No. 17, concessions for cellular mobile telephony services can only be granted to Panamanians and foreign corporations domiciled in the territory of the Republic of Panama.

It is reported that there are restrictions for obtaining a license to provide telecommunication services or to operate telecommunication facilities. In the specific case of mobile telephony, Art. 1 of Law No. 36 establishes that the market will be consolidated into three concessions for the operation of these services.

According to Art. 74 of the Decree No.73, it is necessary for service provider to obtain the corresponding concession in advance to provide any telecommunications service. For foreign companies, a registration in the Public Registry shall be finished before obtaining the concession.

The government owns 49% of the shares of Cable & Wireless Panama, SA, which is a Panamanian telecom company governed by private law.

Panama does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation since 1999. Resolution JD-1334 of 1999 (Resolución No. JD-1334 - Por medio de la cual se dictan los parámetros para establecer posición dominante para la prestacion de servicios públicos de telecomunicaciones con fines comerciales) establishes the criteria which determine if a given company has significant market share. It is calculated in terms of Gross Revenue that exceeds by more than 25% or more the other competitors of the respective service.

Law No. 35 provides a framework for effective protection of trade secrets. Title IV the Industrial Property Law, regulates commercial and trade secrets and holds accountable whoever infringes these provisions.

There is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Panama to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements. As established by Art. 1 of the Resolution AN No. 2848-Telco and Annex A on Regulations for the installation, operation and shared use of towers and/or structures that support telecommunications service antennas.