Nicaragua has not joined any free trade agreement committing to open transfers of cross-border data flows.

The Personal Data Protection Law and its regulations constitute the framework for data protection. Moreover, the Political Constitution of Nicaragua also provides certain general rights concerning privacy and data collection.

Art. 19.f of the Personal Data Protection Law stipulates that every individual has the right to have their personal data retained for five years, or for the period agreed between the parties under the applicable contractual provisions, and likewise when such data is no longer adequate, proportionate, or necessary for the scope and purposes for which it was initially collected. Art. 24 further provides that personal data files collected and processed for administrative purposes must be retained for five years.

According to Art. 36 of Law No. 1042, telecom providers must retain data for all users for one year. A local judge may issue an order, at the National Police or Prosecutor General’s request, to force internet providers to release specific information about an individual customer, as well as collect, extract, or record data about this customer, such as real-time data traffic.
As part of the implementation of Law No. 1042, the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services (TELCOR) published Administrative Agreement 001-2021 on Regulations for the Preservation of Data and Information. Art. 3 requires telecommunications companies to collect and preserve any data necessary to trace a communication; identify the recipient of a communication; determine the time, date, and duration of a communication; identify the type of communication, such as mobile phone, internet, or landline phone; identify the equipment used to conduct a communication; and identify the geolocation of the equipment used for communication. In addition, companies offering community repeaters and trunk links must be able to submit information on the services they provide. Art. 5 of the agreement further requires companies to store the relevant information for up to 12 months.

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

Nicaragua has a copyright regime governed by Law No. 312. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, which limits the lawful use of copyrighted works by others. Arts. 31-43 outline the exceptions, including the reproduction of copyrighted works by means of reprography for teaching purposes, the reproduction of isolated articles published in the press or short extracts from a work, the reproduction of works for private use by the blind, and the use of a work for parody purposes, among others.

Copyright is not adequately enforced online in Nicaragua. It is reported that there are concerns about optical discs, broadcast media piracy, the use of unlicensed software, and inadequate IP enforcement in the country.

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

Nicaragua 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).

Under Art. 167 of Presidential Decree No. 07-2025, foreign contractors may subcontract part of the services for which they are responsible only where they commit to providing capacity-building and technology transfer to national subcontractors. The Decree further provides that subcontracting should preferably be carried out with micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, pursuant to Section 100, the evaluation of bids is conducted in two stages, first a technical assessment and subsequently an economic assessment. At the technical stage, the contracting entity assesses proposals against qualitative factors, including knowledge transfer and the participation of nationals.

Pursuant to Art. 2 of Law No. 1238 on State Administrative Contracts, procurement procedures may be conducted on an exclusive basis for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Art. 59 of the Law’s implementing regulation (Presidential Decree No. 07-2025) further provides that the governing authority, through the General Directorate of State Procurement, shall establish criteria to promote and facilitate MSME participation, including instruments such as: dividing procurement by geographic zones, imposing time limits, adopting measures to prevent market concentration in a single supplier, and other measures that support the objective of ensuring free competition and avoiding monopolies.

Pursuant to Section 33(e) of Presidential Decree No. 07-2025, foreign natural or legal persons seeking to contract with State entities must demonstrate their legal capacity through the legal-status documentation mandatorily required in the tender dossier, as a condition of legality and eligibility. In particular, for non-resident foreign persons, the Decree requires evidence of legal existence in the country of origin and the appointment of a legal representative in Nicaragua.

It is reported that transparency and procedural compliance challenges persist in Nicaragua’s public procurement system, creating significant hurdles for suppliers seeking to compete for government contracts. In particular, reports indicate that procurement processes do not consistently adhere to statutory requirements, including minimum time periods for open tendering, and that terms of reference and technical specifications are often unclear. It is further reported that financial guarantee requirements and local legal representation obligations create substantial barriers for foreign firms, especially those operating without a local partner. More broadly, foreign businesses report weak rule of law and corruption risks, which are particularly pronounced in government procurement.