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

The Organic Act No. 63-2004 on the Protection of Personal Data provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Tunisia and sets up the National Authority of Data Protection (INPDP) in charge of its enforcement.

Art. 6 of Decree No. 54-2022 requires telecommunications service providers to keep data stored in their own information system for a period of no less than two years, including geolocation data, personal identification data, and traffic flow data. It is unclear if the information system has to be in the country or not.

It is reported that the Instance Nationale des Télécommunications (INT, National Telecommunications Authority), 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. 63 (bis) of Law No. 01-2001 provides that the INT shall have legal personality and financial autonomy.

Pursuant to Organic Act No. 2004-63, the transfer of personal data is generally prohibited or subject to strict measures. According to Art. 52, prior authorisation from the Tunisian Data Protection Authority (Instance Nationale de Protection des Données à caractère Personnel, INPDP) is required in all circumstances. In addition, according to Art. 50, it is forbidden to transfer personal data to a foreign country where this is likely to harm the public security or vital interests of Tunisia. Lastly, according to Art. 51, the transfer of personal data is not permitted to countries which do not provide an adequate level of data protection. It should be noted that Art. 22 provides that the natural person or the legal representative of the legal entity wishing to carry out the processing of personal data and their agents must meet the following conditions: be of Tunisian nationality; be a resident of Tunisia; and have no criminal record. These conditions also apply to the subcontractor and its agents.

According to Art. 21 of the Decree-Law No. 2-2022, it is forbidden for companies organizing the activity of credit information to transfer their databases outside Tunisia and to host the data in the cloud.

It is reported that public companies and institutions are prohibited by the Ministry of Communication Technologies from freely transmitting and storing personal data outside of the country.

According to Art. 2 of Decree No. 2014-412, the activity of a virtual telecommunications network operator is subject to authorization from the Minister responsible for telecommunications after advice from the national telecommunications authority. Art. 5 lists the required conditions, including: to be a Tunisian citizen; to have a capital of not less than 150,000 dinars (approx. USD 48,500) owned nominally and by a majority of Tunisians.

According to Art. 2 of Decree No. 4773-2014, ISPs must be authorised by the Minister responsible for telecommunications after consultation with the Minister of the Interior and the National Telecommunications Authority. Art. 3 stipulates that any person wishing to be authorised as an ISP must meet the following conditions:
- In the case of a natural person, be of Tunisian nationality and hold a university degree or equivalent;
- In the case of a legal person, be constituted in accordance with Tunisian law, with a share capital of at least 1,000,000 dinars (approx. USD 322,000) held in name and by a majority of Tunisian nationals.
Art. 4 adds that granting of the ISP authorisation is subject to the payment of a fee of 150,000 dinars (approx. USD 48,500), payable on the date of granting the authorisation.

Tunisia has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of Commitments annexed to the Fourth Protocol on Basic Telecommunications.

It is reported that Tunisia mandates functional and accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. According to Art. 26-bis of Law No. 1-2001 promulgating the Telecommunications Code, operators of public telecommunications networks and access networks undertake to keep analytical accounts distinguishing between each network and each service and to refrain from any anti-competitive practices, in particular cross-subsidisation.

Art. 5 of Law No. 1 of 2001 states that the provision of telecommunication services is subject to prior authorization by the Minister responsible for Telecommunications. Subject to the provisions of Art. 5 of the Code, Art. 8 establishes that the provider of telecommunications services must meet the following conditions:
- for natural persons, they must be of Tunisian nationality;
- in the case of a legal entity, it must be incorporated in accordance with Tunisian law.
Telecommunications service is defined as any service providing telecommunications between two or more users.

Art. 3 of Decree No. 4773 stipulates that any legal entity wishing to obtain a licence as an Internet service provider must, inter alia, meet the requirement of having a majority shareholding by Tunisian owners.

Art. 31 ter of Law No. 1 of 2001 provides that the operation of a virtual telecommunications network shall be subject to prior authorisation by the Minister responsible for telecommunications after obtaining the opinion of the Instance Nationale des Télécommunications (INT, National Telecommunications Authority). The conditions and procedures for granting this authorisation are laid down by Decree No 2014-412. Art. 5 of the Decree stipulates that any legal entity wishing to obtain a licence to operate a virtual telecommunications network must, inter alia, have a majority Tunisian shareholding. Operator of a virtual telecommunications network is defined in Law No. 1 of 2001 as any legal entity holding an authorisation for the provision of telecommunications services by means of a telecommunications network and radio frequencies that it does not own.

The government owns shares in certain telecom companies. In particular, the Tunisian State owns 65% of Tunisie Telecom capital and, since 2011, it owns 10% of the shares of Ooredoo Tunisia and 51% of the shares of Orange Tunisia.