The United Kingdom has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

The United Kingdom has a telecommunications authority: The Office of Communications (Ofcom). However, it is reported that the decision making process of this entity is not fully independent from the government.

According to Section 388 of the Companies Act 2006, if accounting records are kept at a place outside the United Kingdom, accounts and returns must be sent to and kept at a place in the United Kingdom and must at all times be open to such inspection. In addition, records must be sent back to the United Kingdom at intervals of not more than six months.

Under Art. 44 of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), it is required that any international data transfer of personal data to a third country or international organisation should only take place under certain conditions and/or with certain safeguards in place. These are further set out in Arts. 45 to 49 of the UK GDPR.
The 2018 Data Protection Act allows personal data to flow from the UK to third countries on the basis of an adequacy decision, appropriate safeguards (such as standard data protection clauses and binding corporate rules), or other conditions specified under the Data Protection Act. The UK has granted adequacy to countries within the European Economic Area, countries covered by European Commission adequacy decisions (as of 31 December 2020), and South Korea.

The United Kingdom has joined several agreements with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders. These include: the Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Japan for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership (Art. 8.84), the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the One Part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the Other Part (Art. 201), the Free Trade Agreement between Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Art. 4.11), the Digital Economy Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Singapore (Art. 8.61-F), the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (Art. 14.10), the Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and New Zealand (Art. 15.14), the Digital Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ukraine [Art. 132-K (2)], and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP, Art. 14.11)

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

In the United Kingdom, trade secrets are protected from unjustified use and disclosure by common law – under the law of confidence – and the Trade Secrets Regulations of 2018. The regulations implement Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) in the United Kingdom. They establish broad criteria for information that qualifies for protection, strict and non-time-limited protections, and clear sanctions against unlawful disclosure.

Although the United Kingdom is a signatory to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), its coverage schedules do not include "telecommunications-related services" (CPC 754), which is an important services sector for digital trade.
The United Kingdom joined the GPA 2012, in its own right, on 1 January 2021. The country had previously been covered by the GPA 1994 and subsequently by the GPA 2012 as a member State of the European Union and later in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement concluded between the European Union and the United Kingdom and relevant decisions of the WTO Committee on Government Procurement. From 2018 to 2020, the United Kingdom negotiated with GPA Parties on GPA membership in its own right. On 2 December 2020, the United Kingdom deposited its instrument of accession to the GPA 2012.

There are no restrictions on maximum foreign equity share for investors in digital trade sectors in the UK. While in practice, it may be difficult for foreign investors to buy large equity shares in state-controlled companies in the UK, there are no formal rules on maximum foreign equity shares.

The National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) is an investment screening mechanism that gives the government power to review domestic and foreign investment along national security grounds. The NSI Act creates a mandatory notification requirement for firms as well as a dedicated body, the Investment Security Unit, to review all qualifying investments. Investments in 17 sectors, including communications, data infrastructure, quantum technologies, dual-use technologies, and satellite and space technologies, are reviewable as long as certain ownership threshold requirements are met or the transaction allows for the "material influence" over the entity. The NSI Act does not solely apply to mergers and acquisitions but also to purchases of physical capital and intellectual property. In 2021, the first case of blocking occurred when Chinese company Beijing Infinite Vision Technology was prohibited from acquiring IP developed and owned by the University of Manchester.

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

The UK has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows the fair dealing model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Sections 29 and 30 of the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988 enumerate the three scenarios in which fair dealing exceptions can be made to UK copyright law for purposes of research or private study, criticism or review, and for the purpose of reporting current events.

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