El Salvador lacks binding commitments on open transfers of cross-border data flows. Art. 14.5 of the Central America-Dominican Republic-US Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) incorporates a provision relating to cooperation on the free flow of data. However, this provision is not binding; instead, it proposes collaboration on this issue.

The Salvadoran Congress has approved in 2019 the Personal Data Protection Bill, but it has not been enacted by the President of the Republic. For the time being, there is no comprehensive regulation on data protection and the current rules on personal data protection are contained in special sectoral laws, such as the Consumer Protection Law (amended in 2018), Law for the Regulation of Information Services on the Credit History of Individuals (since 2011), Law on Access to Public Information (since 2011), and Special Law on Computer and Related Crimes (since 2016, amended in 2022).

Art. 5 of the Law for the Regulation of Information Services on Credit History of Persons states that the Central Reserve Bank shall have unrestricted access to the databases of public law institutions or private entities containing real-time credit history data information on individuals.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringement is absent in El Salvador's law and jurisprudence. However, Art. 15.11.27 of the Central America - United States - Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) of 2013 regulates limitations on the liability of Service Providers for copyright and related rights, as well as Art. 272 of the Agreement with the European Union and Art. 15.69 of the Free Trade Agreement between the Republics of Central America and the Republic of Korea.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in El Salvador's law and jurisprudence.

It is reported that El Salvador imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card or a passport in case of foreigners to activate a new prepaid SIM card.

It is reported that private companies express concerns regarding the inconsistent and discretionary application of customs regulations and procedures, resulting in unpredictable delays and administrative fines. For instance, exporting from the duty-free zone is unduly cumbersome, with a requirement that a representative of the receiving company and the shipping company be physically present for the exchange of documents and release of materials.

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

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

The Intellectual Property Law provides a framework for the effective protection of trade secrets. Title IV of the Intellectual Property Law (Art. 177 and following) regulates the protection of industrial or commercial secrets and evidence data.

It is reported that there is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in El Salvador to deliver telecom services to end users. However, it is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

El Salvador does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, it is reported that there has been an obligation of accounting separation since 1998. According to Art. 25 of the Telecommunications Law Regulations, in order to ensure the allocation of differentiated costs for the establishment of the maximum values of basic interconnection charges and basic rates for fixed and mobile telephony, operators must keep separate accounts.

El Salvador is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996, but is not a signatory of its 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Arts. 31-33 of the Public Procurement Act provide special rules for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Art. 31 stipulates that priority in the evaluation of bids may be given to goods manufactured and/or produced in the country. Art. 32 establishes that public administration entities and municipalities should seek to procure or contract with national MSMEs to the extent that they represent at least 25% of their annual budget for procurement and contracting of goods and services, provided that they guarantee the quality of the goods and services in question. Procurement should be sourced from national, regional and local SMEs in the area where the respective procurement and contracting takes place. Furthermore, at least 10% of the budget for procurement and contracting of goods and services should be procured or contracted from MSMEs that are owned, majority-owned or legally represented by women. Finally, Art. 33 establishes that, in the event of two or more evaluated bids whose price and qualification are equal based on the evaluation criteria and other conditions required in the application documents, preference shall be given to the bid submitted by a micro or small enterprise.
The Law on Acquisitions and Contracting of the Public Administration repealed the Law on Acquisitions and Contracting of the Public Administration, which contained similar requirements to those mentioned above in Arts. 39-A and 39-C.