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Two or three countries, side by side, one row per question. Pick up to 3.

Countries

ArmeniaChecked 18 August 2026

Yes, with paperworkWork: MediumEnforcement: Dormant

In one paragraph: Armenia lets personal data leave, but only to a country on an official approved list of 53 states, or with case-by-case permission from the privacy regulator. That regulator has had no boss since February 2026 and the largest fine it can impose is about 1,300 US dollars. The real constraints are elsewhere: government data sent to a foreign cloud must keep a backup copy inside Armenia, and banking and medical secrecy sit outside the privacy law entirely.
The catch: The approved-country list is worthless in three places. Government bodies must keep an in-country backup of anything they put in a cloud abroad. Bank, notarial, lawyer and insurance secrets are carved out of the privacy law and are governed by their own secrecy statutes, which list exhaustively who may see the data and do not mention foreign cloud providers. And leaking medical secrets is a crime that can put a named individual in prison, not just a fine on the company.
Does this apply to me?: Probably not, if you have nothing in Armenia. The privacy law describes who it covers by naming Armenian public bodies, companies and individuals who process personal data. It contains no clause saying it follows Armenians' data abroad, and no rule requiring a foreign company to appoint someone inside Armenia. There is no size or revenue threshold either, so a one-person Armenian business is caught exactly like a bank.Medium confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Yes, with paperwork. Armenia runs an approved-country list: if the destination is on it, you can send data with no permission from anyone. The list is real and populated — 53 countries, including all of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Georgia and Russia. Sending data anywhere else needs written permission from the privacy regulator first, and that regulator currently has nobody in the chair. Three sectors override this entirely: government, banking-type secrets, and health.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: The model is an approved list, and the list is full. Fifty-three countries were approved on 8 July 2024 and that decision has never been changed. If your destination is on it you need nothing — no standard contract, no filing, no fee. If it is not on it, you must write to the regulator before you send anything, attach the contract you plan to sign, and wait up to 30 days for a yes or a no.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: On paper, the Personal Data Protection Agency inside the Ministry of Justice. In practice, nobody right now: its head resigned with effect from 24 February 2026 and no replacement appointment has been published. In more than eleven years the agency has published exactly one general decision — the approved-country list. Two other regulators are genuinely working: the Central Bank supervises banks, payment firms, insurers and securities, and a brand-new Information Systems Regulatory Commission was appointed in March and April 2026 to police cybersecurity and state computer systems.Medium confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: The floor is five years for anything that proves your tax position. The ceiling is not a number — it is a principle: you must destroy or block personal data as soon as you no longer need it for the purpose you collected it for. Two hard clocks sit inside that principle. If someone withdraws consent you have ten working days to destroy their data, then three more working days to tell them you did. If you spot unlawful processing you have three working days to fix it or destroy the data.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count three clocks. Under the privacy law, if data leaks out of your electronic systems you must immediately publish a public announcement about it and at the same time tell the Armenian police and the privacy regulator — there is no grace period and no threshold. If you run a system in a sector the state calls vital, you have 24 hours to tell the cybersecurity regulator, 72 hours to send an update, two days to warn the people affected, and one month to file a final report. Both sets of duties can bite at once.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that will ruin your week. One: a data leak must be announced publicly and reported to the police, not just to the regulator. Two: encryption is legally compulsory, not a best practice, and failing to use it is its own separate fine. Three: before you process biometric or sensitive data you must notify the regulator in advance and wait to be entered in its register. Four: to process a dead person's data you need the consent of all of their legal heirs. Five: a child is anyone under 16 here, not 13 and not 18.High confidence
What's about to change?: Armenia rewired its digital rulebook in December 2025 and the deadlines land through 2026, 2027 and 2028. Rules for cyber incidents and for state computer systems are already live. Detailed technical rules are due by January 2027, internal cybersecurity policies and risk assessments by July 2027, and security certificates for critical systems by January 2028. The change most likely to catch someone out is not a new law at all: the approved-country list can be rewritten by one official's signature.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Government — «Ամպայինն առաջինը» քաղաքականության մշակման և ներդրման մասին ՀՀ կառավարության որոշում

CanadaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Canada lets data leave the country. There is no approved-country list and no banned-country list. You stay responsible for the data wherever it goes, and you must tell people it may be handled abroad. The catch is that Canada is really ten jurisdictions at once, and several of them add hard storage rules on top of the national one.
The catch: The relaxed national answer stops being true the moment you touch four things: personal information about people in Quebec, a Nova Scotia public body or its suppliers, federal government data rated Protected B or higher, or a federally regulated bank. Add to that a brand-new cyber security law that says records about critical systems in banking, telecoms, energy and transport must be kept in Canada. In those places Canada is genuinely restrictive.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. Canada's national privacy law reaches a foreign company with no office here if it handles personal information about people in Canada as part of doing business. There is no revenue or headcount threshold that lets you out. You do not normally need a local representative, but payment companies are an exception: a payment firm based abroad that aims its service at people in Canada must register with the central bank and name an agent inside Canada to receive official notices.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general, yes, and with no government permission. Canada's national law does not restrict where personal data is stored or processed. But the headline is wrong for at least six groups. Quebec makes you do a written risk assessment first — and that applies even to sending data to Ontario. Nova Scotia public bodies and their suppliers must keep the data in Canada. Federal government data rated Protected B or higher must sit in Canada. Banks must keep a full copy of their records on servers in Canada. And under the new cyber security law, records about critical systems must be kept in Canada.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: At the national level there is no list at all — no approved countries, no banned countries, no government form to file. What you must do instead is stay accountable: put a contract or similar protection in place with whoever handles the data for you, and tell people plainly that their information may be processed in another country and could be seen by foreign courts, police or security agencies. Quebec is different and stricter: there you must complete a written privacy risk assessment before the data moves, and sign a written agreement.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: Canada has many regulators and they are all real, staffed and issuing decisions. The national one, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, published findings against OpenAI, X, Bell and WestJet in the first half of 2026 alone. But it cannot fine anyone — it makes findings and recommendations, and a case has to go to the Federal Court for money. Quebec's regulator can fine, and has blocked a national grocery chain from switching on a face-recognition system. Banking, payments and cyber security each have their own separate supervisor.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: The floor and the ceiling pull in opposite directions. Tax law says keep your business records for six years after the tax year they relate to, and keep them at a place of business in Canada unless the tax authority agrees to somewhere else. Privacy law says the opposite: delete personal information once the reason you collected it has gone. Where the two clash, the duty to keep wins — but only for the specific records the law names, and only for as long as it names.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count at least four clocks and they do not agree. The national privacy law gives no fixed number of hours — you report 'as soon as feasible', which in practice means days, not weeks. Payment firms get 48 hours to tell the central bank about a serious incident. Critical infrastructure operators will get no more than 72 hours to tell the national cyber agency, then must tell their own regulator immediately after. Health and provincial rules add more. The overlap is where people get caught: one incident, several reports, several deadlines.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in any summary. Quebec's cross-border rule catches you sending data to Ontario, not just abroad. Quebec also makes you tell its regulator 60 days before you switch on any face or fingerprint system, and it has already blocked a big grocery chain from doing so. British Columbia repealed its keep-it-in-Canada rule in 2021, so trackers that still show it are wrong. Nova Scotia's Canada-only rule reaches private suppliers, with fines up to half a million dollars. And your tax records have to sit at a place of business in Canada.High confidence
What's about to change?: One big bill and one big law already passed. The bill is Canada's third attempt to replace its 25-year-old privacy law: it would force a written risk assessment before any personal data goes outside Canada, give people a right to have data deleted, treat everyone under 18 as sensitive, and set up a new commissioner. It was only introduced in June 2026 and is not law — do not plan around it as if it were. The law already passed is the cyber security act, which switches on in stages over the coming year.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Government — Personal Information International Disclosure Protection Act
Government — Direction for Electronic Data Residency (ITPIN 2017-02), with the Policy on Service and Digital
Banking — Guideline B-10 Third-Party Risk Management, read with Bank Act section 245 and the equivalent provisions of the Insurance Companies Act and Trust and Loan Companies Act
All industries — Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act, enacted by the Cyber Security Act (Bill C-8)

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	ArmeniaChecked 18 August 2026	CanadaChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Yes, with paperwork Work: Medium Enforcement: Dormant	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Active
In one paragraph	Armenia lets personal data leave, but only to a country on an official approved list of 53 states, or with case-by-case permission from the privacy regulator. That regulator has had no boss since February 2026 and the largest fine it can impose is about 1,300 US dollars. The real constraints are elsewhere: government data sent to a foreign cloud must keep a backup copy inside Armenia, and banking and medical secrecy sit outside the privacy law entirely.	Canada lets data leave the country. There is no approved-country list and no banned-country list. You stay responsible for the data wherever it goes, and you must tell people it may be handled abroad. The catch is that Canada is really ten jurisdictions at once, and several of them add hard storage rules on top of the national one.
The catch	The approved-country list is worthless in three places. Government bodies must keep an in-country backup of anything they put in a cloud abroad. Bank, notarial, lawyer and insurance secrets are carved out of the privacy law and are governed by their own secrecy statutes, which list exhaustively who may see the data and do not mention foreign cloud providers. And leaking medical secrets is a crime that can put a named individual in prison, not just a fine on the company.	The relaxed national answer stops being true the moment you touch four things: personal information about people in Quebec, a Nova Scotia public body or its suppliers, federal government data rated Protected B or higher, or a federally regulated bank. Add to that a brand-new cyber security law that says records about critical systems in banking, telecoms, energy and transport must be kept in Canada. In those places Canada is genuinely restrictive.
Does this apply to me?	Probably not, if you have nothing in Armenia. The privacy law describes who it covers by naming Armenian public bodies, companies and individuals who process personal data. It contains no clause saying it follows Armenians' data abroad, and no rule requiring a foreign company to appoint someone inside Armenia. There is no size or revenue threshold either, so a one-person Armenian business is caught exactly like a bank.Medium confidence	Yes. Canada's national privacy law reaches a foreign company with no office here if it handles personal information about people in Canada as part of doing business. There is no revenue or headcount threshold that lets you out. You do not normally need a local representative, but payment companies are an exception: a payment firm based abroad that aims its service at people in Canada must register with the central bank and name an agent inside Canada to receive official notices.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?	Yes, with paperwork. Armenia runs an approved-country list: if the destination is on it, you can send data with no permission from anyone. The list is real and populated — 53 countries, including all of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Georgia and Russia. Sending data anywhere else needs written permission from the privacy regulator first, and that regulator currently has nobody in the chair. Three sectors override this entirely: government, banking-type secrets, and health.High confidence	In general, yes, and with no government permission. Canada's national law does not restrict where personal data is stored or processed. But the headline is wrong for at least six groups. Quebec makes you do a written risk assessment first — and that applies even to sending data to Ontario. Nova Scotia public bodies and their suppliers must keep the data in Canada. Federal government data rated Protected B or higher must sit in Canada. Banks must keep a full copy of their records on servers in Canada. And under the new cyber security law, records about critical systems must be kept in Canada.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	The model is an approved list, and the list is full. Fifty-three countries were approved on 8 July 2024 and that decision has never been changed. If your destination is on it you need nothing — no standard contract, no filing, no fee. If it is not on it, you must write to the regulator before you send anything, attach the contract you plan to sign, and wait up to 30 days for a yes or a no.High confidence	At the national level there is no list at all — no approved countries, no banned countries, no government form to file. What you must do instead is stay accountable: put a contract or similar protection in place with whoever handles the data for you, and tell people plainly that their information may be processed in another country and could be seen by foreign courts, police or security agencies. Quebec is different and stricter: there you must complete a written privacy risk assessment before the data moves, and sign a written agreement.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	On paper, the Personal Data Protection Agency inside the Ministry of Justice. In practice, nobody right now: its head resigned with effect from 24 February 2026 and no replacement appointment has been published. In more than eleven years the agency has published exactly one general decision — the approved-country list. Two other regulators are genuinely working: the Central Bank supervises banks, payment firms, insurers and securities, and a brand-new Information Systems Regulatory Commission was appointed in March and April 2026 to police cybersecurity and state computer systems.Medium confidence	Canada has many regulators and they are all real, staffed and issuing decisions. The national one, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, published findings against OpenAI, X, Bell and WestJet in the first half of 2026 alone. But it cannot fine anyone — it makes findings and recommendations, and a case has to go to the Federal Court for money. Quebec's regulator can fine, and has blocked a national grocery chain from switching on a face-recognition system. Banking, payments and cyber security each have their own separate supervisor.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	The floor is five years for anything that proves your tax position. The ceiling is not a number — it is a principle: you must destroy or block personal data as soon as you no longer need it for the purpose you collected it for. Two hard clocks sit inside that principle. If someone withdraws consent you have ten working days to destroy their data, then three more working days to tell them you did. If you spot unlawful processing you have three working days to fix it or destroy the data.High confidence	The floor and the ceiling pull in opposite directions. Tax law says keep your business records for six years after the tax year they relate to, and keep them at a place of business in Canada unless the tax authority agrees to somewhere else. Privacy law says the opposite: delete personal information once the reason you collected it has gone. Where the two clash, the duty to keep wins — but only for the specific records the law names, and only for as long as it names.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	Count three clocks. Under the privacy law, if data leaks out of your electronic systems you must immediately publish a public announcement about it and at the same time tell the Armenian police and the privacy regulator — there is no grace period and no threshold. If you run a system in a sector the state calls vital, you have 24 hours to tell the cybersecurity regulator, 72 hours to send an update, two days to warn the people affected, and one month to file a final report. Both sets of duties can bite at once.High confidence	Count at least four clocks and they do not agree. The national privacy law gives no fixed number of hours — you report 'as soon as feasible', which in practice means days, not weeks. Payment firms get 48 hours to tell the central bank about a serious incident. Critical infrastructure operators will get no more than 72 hours to tell the national cyber agency, then must tell their own regulator immediately after. Health and provincial rules add more. The overlap is where people get caught: one incident, several reports, several deadlines.High confidence
What's the trap?	Five things that will ruin your week. One: a data leak must be announced publicly and reported to the police, not just to the regulator. Two: encryption is legally compulsory, not a best practice, and failing to use it is its own separate fine. Three: before you process biometric or sensitive data you must notify the regulator in advance and wait to be entered in its register. Four: to process a dead person's data you need the consent of all of their legal heirs. Five: a child is anyone under 16 here, not 13 and not 18.High confidence	Five things that are not in any summary. Quebec's cross-border rule catches you sending data to Ontario, not just abroad. Quebec also makes you tell its regulator 60 days before you switch on any face or fingerprint system, and it has already blocked a big grocery chain from doing so. British Columbia repealed its keep-it-in-Canada rule in 2021, so trackers that still show it are wrong. Nova Scotia's Canada-only rule reaches private suppliers, with fines up to half a million dollars. And your tax records have to sit at a place of business in Canada.High confidence
What's about to change?	Armenia rewired its digital rulebook in December 2025 and the deadlines land through 2026, 2027 and 2028. Rules for cyber incidents and for state computer systems are already live. Detailed technical rules are due by January 2027, internal cybersecurity policies and risk assessments by July 2027, and security certificates for critical systems by January 2028. The change most likely to catch someone out is not a new law at all: the approved-country list can be rewritten by one official's signature.High confidence	One big bill and one big law already passed. The bill is Canada's third attempt to replace its 25-year-old privacy law: it would force a written risk assessment before any personal data goes outside Canada, give people a right to have data deleted, treat everyone under 18 as sensitive, and set up a new commissioner. It was only introduced in June 2026 and is not law — do not plan around it as if it were. The law already passed is the cyber security act, which switches on in stages over the coming year.High confidence
Hardest industry wall	Government — «Ամպայինն առաջինը» քաղաքականության մշակման և ներդրման մասին ՀՀ կառավարության որոշում	Government — Personal Information International Disclosure Protection Act Government — Direction for Electronic Data Residency (ITPIN 2017-02), with the Policy on Service and Digital Banking — Guideline B-10 Third-Party Risk Management, read with Bank Act section 245 and the equivalent provisions of the Insurance Companies Act and Trust and Loan Companies Act All industries — Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act, enacted by the Cyber Security Act (Bill C-8)