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

Countries

AustriaChecked 18 August 2026

Yes, with paperworkWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Austria does not require personal data to be kept in Austria, and we found no Austrian industry that does. Data can leave once the right paperwork is in place under European rules. What Austria adds is a secrecy layer: a constitutional right to data secrecy, a staff secrecy duty, an extra fine of up to 50,000 euros (about $58,000), and a prison offence of up to one year.
The catch: "No local storage needed" is true. "Nothing extra to do" is not. Austria's real cost sits in the secrecy layer, not in a map. A standard supplier data agreement does not satisfy Austrian data secrecy on its own, a child can consent at fourteen rather than sixteen, and misusing data you learned at work is a criminal matter in Austria, not just a fine. Health data also moves only inside a closed, encrypted Austrian health network, which in practice narrows your supplier list even though no law names a country.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. A company with no office in Austria is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Austria, or watches what they do online. There is no size or revenue floor to duck under. If you have no establishment anywhere in the European Union, you must name a representative inside the Union in writing. Austria does not add a second, Austria-only representative on top of that.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Yes, with paperwork. We looked for an Austrian rule forcing data to stay in Austria and found none — not in banking, payments, insurance, securities, health, telecoms, government or mapping. Austrian health data is the closest thing to a wall, but it is a technical wall, not a geographic one: findings move only inside a closed, encrypted Austrian health network between registered care providers. Checked on 18 August 2026.Medium confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: The model is an approved-destination list. Sending data outside Europe is fine if the destination is on the European Commission's approved list. If it is not, you sign the European standard contract, or use approved group-wide rules, and you write down a short risk assessment first. You do not need permission from the Austrian regulator. Its own words: apart from a few special cases, international data traffic needs no approval.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Austrian Data Protection Authority, and it is genuinely working. It has had a permanent head, Matthias Schmidl, since 1 January 2024, a deputy, and five departments. It issues decisions, and on 24 June 2026 Austria's highest administrative court confirmed a 13 million euro fine (about $15 million) for building political-opinion profiles on around 2.2 million people. The court held the fine is measured against the whole group's turnover, not one product line.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is a ceiling and a floor, and they pull against each other. The ceiling is European: keep personal data no longer than you need it, then delete it. The floor is Austrian tax and company law, which makes you keep books, invoices and business records for years after the year they relate to. Where the two clash, the keeping duty wins for as long as it runs, and the data must then be deleted.Medium confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count at least two clocks, sometimes four. For a personal data breach you tell the Austrian Data Protection Authority without delay and if possible within 72 hours, and if you are late you must explain in writing why. If you run an essential service you also report significant incidents to Austria's network security authority. Banks and insurers report separately under European financial rules, and telecom operators have their own duty.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five that cost people their weekend. A child can consent at fourteen in Austria, not sixteen. Misusing data you only learned about through your job is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison. There is a second, separate Austrian fine of up to 50,000 euros (about $58,000) for breaking data secrecy or running a camera unlawfully. Austrian public bodies cannot be fined at all, but you still can. And the law tells the regulator to warn first, which is not the same as forgiveness.High confidence
What's about to change?: Three things to watch. Austria's Constitutional Court is deciding whether the state may plant software on a phone to read messages; it heard the case on 22 June 2026 and has not ruled. Austria has still not written the new European cybersecurity rules into national law, so that expansion is still ahead of you. And from 12 January 2027, cloud providers across Europe may no longer charge you to move your data out.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: None found.

LatviaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Latvia follows European Union privacy rules, so personal data may leave the country once the right paperwork is in place. But Latvia adds its own walls. Accounting records may not be stored outside the European Union at all. Phone and internet companies must hold call records for eighteen months. Banks need the central bank's blessing before handing systems to an outside supplier.
The catch: The relaxed European headline stops being true the moment you touch four things. (1) Accounting records: paper must stay in Latvia and electronic copies must stay inside the European Union, so a United States accounting or resource-planning cloud is unlawful for a Latvian company. (2) Telecoms: eighteen months of call and connection records, plus a gag on telling the customer. (3) Banking: significant outsourcing needs a filing with the central bank and a thirty-working-day wait. (4) State critical computer systems: the supplier and its owners must be from a NATO, European Union, European Free Trade Association or NATO Indo-Pacific partner country, and audit information may only be handled inside that same group of countries.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. A company with no office in Latvia is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Latvia or watches what they do online. That reach comes from the European Union privacy regulation, which applies directly in Latvia. There is no size or revenue threshold to duck under. A company based outside Europe normally has to name a contact person inside the European Union. Latvia's own privacy act adds national detail rather than a separate territorial test.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Personal data can leave Latvia, but the answer flips depending on what kind of data it is. For ordinary personal data the European rules apply: send it anywhere with the right legal instrument. For accounting records the door is shut at the edge of the European Union — paper stays in Latvia, electronic files stay inside the European Union. Phone and internet companies must keep eighteen months of call records. Banks must clear big outsourcing deals with the central bank first. State critical computer systems can only be supplied and audited from allied countries.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: For personal data the model is a permission list, not a ban list. You may send data to a country the European Commission has approved, or use the European Union's standard contract template, or use approved group-wide rules. The approved list is real and long — it includes the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and, for self-certified companies only, the United States. For accounting records none of this helps: the wall is geographic, and no contract unlocks it.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The privacy regulator is the State Data Inspectorate, and it is genuinely working, not a name on a door. In 2025 it took 1,034 complaints, ran 1,396 checks, applied corrective measures 62 times and issued fines totalling 326,400 euros (about $355,000), the largest single fine being 300,000 euros (about $327,000). It has about 32 staff. In the first half of 2026 it received 832 complaints and opened 73 checks of its own motion. Separate regulators handle banking, telecoms and cyber security, and all are staffed.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: Latvia has an unusually crowded set of minimum keeping periods and one surprising maximum. You must keep accounting registers ten years and supporting documents at least five. Phone and internet companies must keep call records eighteen months. Medical records run from one year to forty years depending on the form. In the other direction, security audit trails must normally be deleted after one year — shorter than many global logging policies allow.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count at least two clocks, and often three. If personal data is exposed you have 72 hours to tell the State Data Inspectorate, and you must tell affected people without delay if the risk to them is high. If you run an essential or important service you also have 24 hours to send an early warning to the cyber incident response body, then 72 hours for a first report — and trust service providers get only 24 hours for that first report too. Banks have a third set of reporting duties under European financial rules.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. One: a child can consent from age 13, not 16, so a Latvian teenager can sign up without a parent. Two: mishandling personal data can be a crime, not just a fine, and a company's responsible employee faces up to four years in prison. Three: your accounting system cannot sit outside the European Union, and its entries must be made in Latvian. Four: audit logs must usually be deleted after one year. Five: a bank cannot move systems to a new supplier until it has filed with the central bank and waited thirty working days.High confidence
What's about to change?: Two dated items and three switches. On 12 January 2027 the European Data Act bans cloud providers from charging customers to move their data out — a real change to cloud contracts used in Latvia. On 14 October 2026 Latvia holds its next data protection specialist qualification examination. The switches: the government may still write binding rules on where computer systems are hosted and has not done so; the European Union's approval of United States data transfers is under formal challenge; and the cyber security law is being amended piece by piece.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: All industries — Grāmatvedības likums
Government — Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 397 "Minimālās kiberdrošības prasības"

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	AustriaChecked 18 August 2026	LatviaChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Yes, with paperwork Work: High Enforcement: Active	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Active
In one paragraph	Austria does not require personal data to be kept in Austria, and we found no Austrian industry that does. Data can leave once the right paperwork is in place under European rules. What Austria adds is a secrecy layer: a constitutional right to data secrecy, a staff secrecy duty, an extra fine of up to 50,000 euros (about $58,000), and a prison offence of up to one year.	Latvia follows European Union privacy rules, so personal data may leave the country once the right paperwork is in place. But Latvia adds its own walls. Accounting records may not be stored outside the European Union at all. Phone and internet companies must hold call records for eighteen months. Banks need the central bank's blessing before handing systems to an outside supplier.
The catch	"No local storage needed" is true. "Nothing extra to do" is not. Austria's real cost sits in the secrecy layer, not in a map. A standard supplier data agreement does not satisfy Austrian data secrecy on its own, a child can consent at fourteen rather than sixteen, and misusing data you learned at work is a criminal matter in Austria, not just a fine. Health data also moves only inside a closed, encrypted Austrian health network, which in practice narrows your supplier list even though no law names a country.	The relaxed European headline stops being true the moment you touch four things. (1) Accounting records: paper must stay in Latvia and electronic copies must stay inside the European Union, so a United States accounting or resource-planning cloud is unlawful for a Latvian company. (2) Telecoms: eighteen months of call and connection records, plus a gag on telling the customer. (3) Banking: significant outsourcing needs a filing with the central bank and a thirty-working-day wait. (4) State critical computer systems: the supplier and its owners must be from a NATO, European Union, European Free Trade Association or NATO Indo-Pacific partner country, and audit information may only be handled inside that same group of countries.
Does this apply to me?	Yes. A company with no office in Austria is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Austria, or watches what they do online. There is no size or revenue floor to duck under. If you have no establishment anywhere in the European Union, you must name a representative inside the Union in writing. Austria does not add a second, Austria-only representative on top of that.High confidence	Yes. A company with no office in Latvia is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Latvia or watches what they do online. That reach comes from the European Union privacy regulation, which applies directly in Latvia. There is no size or revenue threshold to duck under. A company based outside Europe normally has to name a contact person inside the European Union. Latvia's own privacy act adds national detail rather than a separate territorial test.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?	Yes, with paperwork. We looked for an Austrian rule forcing data to stay in Austria and found none — not in banking, payments, insurance, securities, health, telecoms, government or mapping. Austrian health data is the closest thing to a wall, but it is a technical wall, not a geographic one: findings move only inside a closed, encrypted Austrian health network between registered care providers. Checked on 18 August 2026.Medium confidence	Personal data can leave Latvia, but the answer flips depending on what kind of data it is. For ordinary personal data the European rules apply: send it anywhere with the right legal instrument. For accounting records the door is shut at the edge of the European Union — paper stays in Latvia, electronic files stay inside the European Union. Phone and internet companies must keep eighteen months of call records. Banks must clear big outsourcing deals with the central bank first. State critical computer systems can only be supplied and audited from allied countries.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	The model is an approved-destination list. Sending data outside Europe is fine if the destination is on the European Commission's approved list. If it is not, you sign the European standard contract, or use approved group-wide rules, and you write down a short risk assessment first. You do not need permission from the Austrian regulator. Its own words: apart from a few special cases, international data traffic needs no approval.High confidence	For personal data the model is a permission list, not a ban list. You may send data to a country the European Commission has approved, or use the European Union's standard contract template, or use approved group-wide rules. The approved list is real and long — it includes the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and, for self-certified companies only, the United States. For accounting records none of this helps: the wall is geographic, and no contract unlocks it.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	The Austrian Data Protection Authority, and it is genuinely working. It has had a permanent head, Matthias Schmidl, since 1 January 2024, a deputy, and five departments. It issues decisions, and on 24 June 2026 Austria's highest administrative court confirmed a 13 million euro fine (about $15 million) for building political-opinion profiles on around 2.2 million people. The court held the fine is measured against the whole group's turnover, not one product line.High confidence	The privacy regulator is the State Data Inspectorate, and it is genuinely working, not a name on a door. In 2025 it took 1,034 complaints, ran 1,396 checks, applied corrective measures 62 times and issued fines totalling 326,400 euros (about $355,000), the largest single fine being 300,000 euros (about $327,000). It has about 32 staff. In the first half of 2026 it received 832 complaints and opened 73 checks of its own motion. Separate regulators handle banking, telecoms and cyber security, and all are staffed.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	There is a ceiling and a floor, and they pull against each other. The ceiling is European: keep personal data no longer than you need it, then delete it. The floor is Austrian tax and company law, which makes you keep books, invoices and business records for years after the year they relate to. Where the two clash, the keeping duty wins for as long as it runs, and the data must then be deleted.Medium confidence	Latvia has an unusually crowded set of minimum keeping periods and one surprising maximum. You must keep accounting registers ten years and supporting documents at least five. Phone and internet companies must keep call records eighteen months. Medical records run from one year to forty years depending on the form. In the other direction, security audit trails must normally be deleted after one year — shorter than many global logging policies allow.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	Count at least two clocks, sometimes four. For a personal data breach you tell the Austrian Data Protection Authority without delay and if possible within 72 hours, and if you are late you must explain in writing why. If you run an essential service you also report significant incidents to Austria's network security authority. Banks and insurers report separately under European financial rules, and telecom operators have their own duty.High confidence	Count at least two clocks, and often three. If personal data is exposed you have 72 hours to tell the State Data Inspectorate, and you must tell affected people without delay if the risk to them is high. If you run an essential or important service you also have 24 hours to send an early warning to the cyber incident response body, then 72 hours for a first report — and trust service providers get only 24 hours for that first report too. Banks have a third set of reporting duties under European financial rules.High confidence
What's the trap?	Five that cost people their weekend. A child can consent at fourteen in Austria, not sixteen. Misusing data you only learned about through your job is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison. There is a second, separate Austrian fine of up to 50,000 euros (about $58,000) for breaking data secrecy or running a camera unlawfully. Austrian public bodies cannot be fined at all, but you still can. And the law tells the regulator to warn first, which is not the same as forgiveness.High confidence	Five things that are not in the summary. One: a child can consent from age 13, not 16, so a Latvian teenager can sign up without a parent. Two: mishandling personal data can be a crime, not just a fine, and a company's responsible employee faces up to four years in prison. Three: your accounting system cannot sit outside the European Union, and its entries must be made in Latvian. Four: audit logs must usually be deleted after one year. Five: a bank cannot move systems to a new supplier until it has filed with the central bank and waited thirty working days.High confidence
What's about to change?	Three things to watch. Austria's Constitutional Court is deciding whether the state may plant software on a phone to read messages; it heard the case on 22 June 2026 and has not ruled. Austria has still not written the new European cybersecurity rules into national law, so that expansion is still ahead of you. And from 12 January 2027, cloud providers across Europe may no longer charge you to move your data out.High confidence	Two dated items and three switches. On 12 January 2027 the European Data Act bans cloud providers from charging customers to move their data out — a real change to cloud contracts used in Latvia. On 14 October 2026 Latvia holds its next data protection specialist qualification examination. The switches: the government may still write binding rules on where computer systems are hosted and has not done so; the European Union's approval of United States data transfers is under formal challenge; and the cyber security law is being amended piece by piece.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall	None found.	All industries — Grāmatvedības likums Government — Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 397 "Minimālās kiberdrošības prasības"