According to Art. 1 of the Decree. No. 808, the Superintendency of Electricity and Telecommunications of El Salvador, which is the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Art. 44 of the Law for the Protection of Personal Data stipulates that international transfers of personal data are permitted only when the recipient country adheres to the principles set out in this Law or the transfers are conducted through recognised international standards. Where the recipient country lacks an adequate level of protection, the transferring country must ensure compliance with this Law during data processing. Regardless of the recipient country’s protection level, data controllers must adopt appropriate and effective measures to ensure both the proper handling of the transferred data and the security of records at the time of transfer. An exception applies to transfers carried out under Central American Economic Integration treaties, where data transfers may proceed in accordance with the terms legally agreed by member states. In all cases, prior consent from the data subject is required, unless international instruments provide otherwise and such provisions are reciprocally applied among the signatory countries.

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 Law for the Protection of Personal Data establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework for data protection in El Salvador. It grants data subjects the rights of access, rectification, erasure, and objection to direct marketing. The Law imposes obligations on both public and private entities, including the requirement to obtain prior consent for data processing, and compliance with provisions concerning data transfers and the processing of sensitive data. It also designates the State Cybersecurity Agency as the supervisory authority and provides for sanctions in cases of non-compliance. In addition, the Consumer Protection Law, as amended in 2018, regulates the financial sector and e-commerce, and sets out obligations regarding the security and confidentiality of consumer personal information.

Under Art. 15 of the Law for the Protection of Personal Data, entities that process personal data are required to appoint a data protection officer.

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.

The Intellectual Property Law establishes a safe harbour regime under which intermediaries that control computer systems connected to digital communication networks may be exempted from liability for copyright infringements committed through their systems. Arts. 305.n and 306 jointly provide that operators and other intermediaries are liable only when they have actual or duly substantiated notice of infringing activity, or when the infringement could not reasonably be ignored without gross negligence. Once placed on notice, intermediaries must act promptly to remove or disable access to the infringing material in order to retain the safe harbour protection. They are exempt from liability when acting in good faith and adopting appropriate technical measures to prevent or halt unauthorised uses of protected works.
In addition, Art. 24 of the Law of Electronic Commerce establishes that providers offering internet access services or data transmission via telecommunications networks shall not be held liable for electronic commercial transactions carried out by users in respect of the goods or services acquired, nor for the information transmitted or its content, unless the provider itself has initiated the transmission, altered the data, or selected the data or their intended recipients.

Art. 24 of the Law of Electronic Commerce establishes that providers offering internet access services or data transmission via telecommunications networks shall not be held liable for electronic commercial transactions carried out by users in respect of the goods or services acquired, nor for the information transmitted or its content, unless the provider itself has initiated the transmission, altered the data, or selected the data or their intended recipients.

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.

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.

El Salvador has been operating under a state of exception since March 2022, which has been renewed on a monthly basis. As part of the implementation of this measure, the government enacted Decree No. 359, applicable for the duration of the state of exception, which permits the executive branch to negotiate and procure goods and services related to the emergency directly, without complying with the requirements of the Public Procurement Law (Arts. 1 and 2 of Decree No. 359). Reports indicate that the absence of transparency in government procurement and contracting processes under states of emergency is particularly concerning, as it has facilitated corruption and clientelism, matters that are of considerable concern to foreign investors. It is also reported that foreign companies have expressed concerns that government agencies are not always providing sufficient advance notice to foster wide participation in bidding procedures, particularly in relation to complex infrastructure works or public-private partnership projects.

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