Law 149/2022 includes provisions for cross-border data transfer and outlines that there are only five specific exceptions for data transfers outside the country. The cross-border data transfer is therefore only allowed in the case of international judicial cooperation, exchange of medical data when necessary for the treatment of the data subject, bank or stock exchange transfers about the relevant transactions, under applicable international treaties, and if the transfer of data is for the purpose of international cooperation in the fight against crime (Art. 65.1). In addition, Art. 66 grants to certain authorities the competencies to authorise the international transfer of personal data in other circumstances.

Cuba has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Law No. 149/2022 on Personal Data Protection establishes a comprehensive framework for the regulation of personal data in Cuba. While the Law does not create a dedicated data protection authority, it assigns responsibility for ensuring compliance to the Ministry of Justice (MINJUS).

Art. 60 of Decree-Law No. 360/2019 establishes that computer systems in which access is possible by multiple users should implement a personal and unique user identifier. The article adds that the people to whom user identifiers are assigned are responsible for the actions realised with their user identifier. In the event of termination of the employment relationship or other causes determined by the entity managing the computer system, the user identifier should be eliminated. In all cases, the traces of the use of the access credentials should be preserved for a period of at least one year.

Art. 18 of Decree-Law No. 35/2021 obliges telecommunications and ICT operators or providers to supply the Ministry of Communications with whatever information it considers necessary to fulfil its functions, and to provide the institutions responsible for national security, defence and public order, namely the ministries of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and of the Interior and the National Civil Defence Staff, with the technical facilities and services they may require. Art. 68 further requires such operators and providers to ensure that their operating systems, equipment and devices, including those they intend to import or manufacture, offer the facilities required for technical supervision and control and for the lawful interception of communications by the competent authorities in accordance with statutory provisions, as well as the sovereign use of methods and means for securing systems and services. Art. 128 additionally mandates that legal and natural persons subject to inspection in the telecommunications or ICT sphere or in the use of the radio spectrum must cooperate with supervisory officials by providing requested books, records, documents and access to equipment installations, and by permitting examination of all elements related to the services or activities they conduct and any relevant data or background information in their possession, without prejudice to constitutionally recognised rights. None of these provisions requires a judicial warrant or court order.

Cuba has not adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Cuba has not adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonogram Treaty.

Decree-Law No. 337 provides a framework for effective protection of trade secrets.

Art. 55 of Decree-Law No. 35 stipulates that there is a mandate for operators to share certain resources associated with ducts, conduits, towers, poles, and other facilities. Art. 29 defines passive telecommunications infrastructures as installations that are primarily composed of towers, masts, poles, ducts, channels, conduits, chambers, cables, and dark fibre, among other components, and which are situated in various locations, including aerial, terrestrial, underground, submarine, or underwater.

The Cuban telecommunications framework is defined by the prohibition of private provision of internet and mobile services and by the concentration of control in the state-owned operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), through which all internet access is channelled and whose subsidiary Cubacel serves as the sole mobile provider. This structure is legally reinforced by Art. 1 of Decree No. 124/2025, which grants ETECSA an administrative concession to provide public telecommunications services nationwide, while Art. 3 defines the scope of those services to include basic telephony, signal-carrying services, data transmission, and terrestrial mobile cellular telecommunications, and Art. 4.1 establishes an exclusivity period extending until 2036. In parallel, the Annex of Decree No. 107, specifically activities 65 and 66, prohibits private micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, non-agricultural cooperatives, and self-employed workers from providing public internet access or related services.

The government holds all the shares in Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), the sole telecommunications operator in Cuba, responsible for the provision of fixed, mobile, data, and internet services. The "Unnumbered Agreement of 2011 of the Council of Ministers" announced that the government had acquired full ownership of the company. Prior to this, the private firm Telecom Italia held a 27% stake in ETECSA, which was purchased by the state‑owned enterprise Rafin S.A. Since that transaction, the telecommunications company has been entirely owned by six Cuban state entities.

Cuba does not mandate functional or accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

Art. 25 of Decree-Law No. 35 establishes that "public telecommunications services have priority over private telecommunications services" explicitly imposing, within a legal framework, discrimination against foreign companies in favour of the state ones. The Cuban telecommunications framework is defined by the prohibition of private provision of internet and mobile services and by the concentration of control in the state-owned operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), through which all internet access is channelled and whose subsidiary Cubacel serves as the sole mobile provider. This structure is legally reinforced by Art. 1 of Decree No. 124/2025, which grants ETECSA an administrative concession to provide public telecommunications services nationwide, while Art. 3 defines the scope of those services to include basic telephony, signal-carrying services, data transmission, and terrestrial mobile cellular telecommunications, and Art. 4.1 establishes an exclusivity period extending until 2036. In parallel, the Annex of Decree No. 107, specifically activities 65 and 66, prohibits private micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, non-agricultural cooperatives, and self-employed workers from providing public internet access or related services.

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

Cuba does not have a telecommunications authority whose decision‑making processes are fully independent from the government. In fact, no separate telecommunications regulator exists. Art. 2 of Decree‑Law No. 308 of 2013 states that the Ministry of Communications is the body responsible for proposing, and once approved, directing and supervising State and governmental policy for the country’s unified communications system. This system includes telecommunications, information technology, radiocommunications, postal services, communications‑related automation, radio‑spectrum management, and the corresponding technical and support functions.