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

Countries

EstoniaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: MediumEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Estonia has no general rule forcing data to stay in the country, and it adds very little on top of the European privacy rules. Two industries are the exception. Phone and internet companies must keep connection records inside the European Union, with some records physically in Estonia. Online gambling firms may only run their game server from a short list of approved countries. The regulator works, but its fines are small.
The catch: The relaxed headline stops being true the moment you are a telecoms operator, an online gambling operator, a health care provider or a public body. Telecoms connection records may not leave the European Union at all and certain police-request records must sit on Estonian soil. Gambling servers are limited to an approved list of countries. Health records carry a 30-year minimum keep-time. Public bodies must run the Estonian national security standard and exchange data through the state's own data layer.
Does this apply to me?: Yes, it reaches you even with no office in Estonia. Estonia does not write its own reach test — it uses the European Union's. If you offer goods or services to people in Estonia, or track what they do online, the European privacy rules apply and Estonia's regulator can act against you. There is no size or revenue threshold to fall below. A company with no branch anywhere in Europe normally has to name a written representative inside Europe.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general, yes. Estonia has no law telling companies to keep personal data in Estonia, and European law actually forbids member states from imposing one on non-personal data. Two industries break that headline. Phone and internet companies must keep their call and connection records inside the European Union, and certain police-request records must stay physically in Estonia. Online gambling companies may only place their game server in Estonia, in a country that has signed the cybercrime treaty, or in a country whose regulator has a cooperation deal with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: For the normal routes you file nothing with the Estonian regulator. If the destination country has been officially approved by the European Commission, you simply send the data. If it has not, you sign the European Commission's standard contract with the recipient and run a risk check on the destination first. Only two routes need Estonia's regulator to sign off: group-wide internal rules where the parent company is in Estonia, and a one-off contract you wrote yourself.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Data Protection Inspectorate, and it is genuinely working. It has 34 posts, a director general in her second term since May 2024, and it publishes its orders. In 2025 it took in 1,568 complaints, issued 13 orders and imposed 5 penalties. But note the shape of the risk: Estonian data protection penalties are handled like minor criminal charges, so they are slow and small, and no Estonian fine has ever approached the European ceilings. Cyber rules are enforced separately by the Information System Authority, which also publishes orders — the most recent on 5 June 2026.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: Estonia has some of the longest minimum keep-times in Europe. Health records must be kept for 30 years. Anti-money-laundering paperwork for 5 years after the customer leaves. Phone and internet connection records for 1 year, and the police request logs behind them for 5 years. Gambling records for 5 years. Going the other way, a dead person's data stays protected for 10 years after death, or 20 years if they died as a child, and a missed payment may only be reported to credit agencies between 30 days and 5 years after it happened.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count three clocks, not one. If personal data leaks, you have 72 hours to tell the Data Protection Inspectorate, and you must tell the affected people without delay if the risk to them is high. If you run an important or essential service, you have only 24 HOURS to send a first cyber-incident warning to the Information System Authority, then 72 hours for a fuller report, then one month for a final report. Trust service providers such as e-signature and certificate companies must send the fuller report inside 24 hours too. Missing the cyber deadline is punished separately from missing the privacy one.High confidence
What's the trap?: Six things that are not in the summary. (1) A child in Estonia is anyone under 13 for online services, not 16 as in much of Europe, so a consent flow tuned to Germany will over-block Estonian teenagers. (2) A dead person's data stays protected for 10 years after death, 20 if they died as a child, and the heirs control it. (3) Research on Estonians must be stripped of names BEFORE the data are handed over, an ethics committee must sign off sensitive projects, and you must name the individual who holds the key. (4) Data protection fines are handled like minor criminal charges, which makes them small but also drags a named human being into the process. (5) Since 1 January 2025 the regulator itself can sue you in court on behalf of a whole group of affected people. (6) Under the cyber law a named board member is personally responsible for security and must attend training.High confidence
What's about to change?: One near-term date stands out. Estonia's official gazette marks its own current texts of the privacy, public information, cybersecurity, telecoms, emergency, health services, health insurance and social welfare acts as valid only until 30 September 2026, so a further change starts on 1 October 2026. We could not identify the amending law, so treat that date as a hard diary entry. Beyond it, the cyber rules phase in: registration was due by 1 April 2026 and full compliance is due by 1 January 2029. From 12 January 2027 European rules make cloud switching and data export charges free.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: Telecoms — Elektroonilise side seadus (ESS), § 111-1

Sri LankaChecked 18 August 2026

Yes, with paperworkWork: MediumEnforcement: Waking up

In one paragraph: Sri Lanka has a full privacy law on the books, but almost none of the parts that create duties for companies are switched on yet. The government has now fixed 1 January 2027 as the day the core duties start. Data may leave the country freely today. From 2027 you will need a written contract or similar promise from whoever receives it abroad. No fines have ever been issued.
The catch: The 'conditional' rating describes 1 January 2027, not today. As of 18 August 2026 the transfer rule is not in force, the individual-rights section has no start date at all, and the penalty section has no start date either. There are no industry data-storage walls: banking, payments, insurance, securities, health and telecom all lack a localisation rule. The only place data location is even mentioned is government, and there it is a preference, not a ban.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. The law reaches a company with no office in Sri Lanka if it offers goods or services to people in Sri Lanka, or watches how they behave online. It also catches anyone processing data inside the country. There is no size or revenue floor to fall below, and no requirement to appoint a local representative. But none of this bites until 1 January 2027, because the scope section itself has not started yet.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Today, yes, with nothing to sign — the transfer section is not in force. From 1 January 2027 data can still leave, but you must first get a binding promise from the receiver abroad that Sri Lankan protections will be honoured. There is no banned-country list and no approved-country list: Sri Lanka scrapped its country-approval system in October 2025. No industry has a rule forcing data to stay in Sri Lanka.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: Right now, nothing. There is no approval to get, no list to check and no form to file, because the transfer section has not started. From 1 January 2027 you will need a written, binding commitment from the overseas receiver. The Authority is supposed to say exactly what form that takes, and it has not done so — only a draft from October 2024 exists, and that draft was written for a version of the law that no longer exists.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Data Protection Authority of Sri Lanka. It genuinely exists: it has a chairman, a seven-person board, a director-general, an office in Colombo and it publishes circulars and draft rules. But it has never issued a fine or a decision, and legally it cannot yet. The Authority itself says in writing that it will only investigate complaints once the relevant sections are switched on. The penalty section still has no start date.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: The floor is clearer than the ceiling. Banks, finance companies and other reporting institutions must keep transaction records for six years, and identity records for six years after the account closes. The ceiling is a principle, not a number: from 1 January 2027 you must not keep personal data in a form that identifies someone for longer than the purpose needs. Where the two clash, the six-year legal duty wins.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There is no deadline, because there is no duty yet. This is unusual and worth saying plainly: as of 18 August 2026 a company suffering a data breach in Sri Lanka has no legal obligation to tell anyone. Reporting to the national cyber team is voluntary. From 1 January 2027 you must notify the Authority, but the rules that set the form and the clock are still a draft. Banks are the exception and must report technology and cyber incidents to the Central Bank.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that will cost you a weekend. A child in Sri Lanka is anyone under sixteen, not eighteen, and a parent must consent for them. Fines are small but personal: directors can be made to pay unless they prove they did not know. The advertised start date of 18 March 2025 was cancelled four days before it arrived, so anything written before November 2025 is wrong. Company data is not protected the way you would expect, because the individual-rights section still has no start date. And the published transfer guidance describes a law that no longer exists.High confidence
What's about to change?: One hard date and four switches. On 1 January 2027 the scope, the processing duties and the controller duties all start, and the Central Bank's new outsourcing rules for banks start the same day. Before then the Authority is expected to finalise its rules on breach reporting, impact assessments, data protection officers and overseas transfers. Watch also for a second gazette bringing individual rights and the penalty section into force — without it, the law has duties but no teeth.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Government — Personal Data Protection Act section 26(4) and 26(5), as substituted by Act No. 22 of 2025

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	EstoniaChecked 18 August 2026	Sri LankaChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: Medium Enforcement: Active	Yes, with paperwork Work: Medium Enforcement: Waking up
In one paragraph	Estonia has no general rule forcing data to stay in the country, and it adds very little on top of the European privacy rules. Two industries are the exception. Phone and internet companies must keep connection records inside the European Union, with some records physically in Estonia. Online gambling firms may only run their game server from a short list of approved countries. The regulator works, but its fines are small.	Sri Lanka has a full privacy law on the books, but almost none of the parts that create duties for companies are switched on yet. The government has now fixed 1 January 2027 as the day the core duties start. Data may leave the country freely today. From 2027 you will need a written contract or similar promise from whoever receives it abroad. No fines have ever been issued.
The catch	The relaxed headline stops being true the moment you are a telecoms operator, an online gambling operator, a health care provider or a public body. Telecoms connection records may not leave the European Union at all and certain police-request records must sit on Estonian soil. Gambling servers are limited to an approved list of countries. Health records carry a 30-year minimum keep-time. Public bodies must run the Estonian national security standard and exchange data through the state's own data layer.	The 'conditional' rating describes 1 January 2027, not today. As of 18 August 2026 the transfer rule is not in force, the individual-rights section has no start date at all, and the penalty section has no start date either. There are no industry data-storage walls: banking, payments, insurance, securities, health and telecom all lack a localisation rule. The only place data location is even mentioned is government, and there it is a preference, not a ban.
Does this apply to me?	Yes, it reaches you even with no office in Estonia. Estonia does not write its own reach test — it uses the European Union's. If you offer goods or services to people in Estonia, or track what they do online, the European privacy rules apply and Estonia's regulator can act against you. There is no size or revenue threshold to fall below. A company with no branch anywhere in Europe normally has to name a written representative inside Europe.High confidence	Yes. The law reaches a company with no office in Sri Lanka if it offers goods or services to people in Sri Lanka, or watches how they behave online. It also catches anyone processing data inside the country. There is no size or revenue floor to fall below, and no requirement to appoint a local representative. But none of this bites until 1 January 2027, because the scope section itself has not started yet.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?	In general, yes. Estonia has no law telling companies to keep personal data in Estonia, and European law actually forbids member states from imposing one on non-personal data. Two industries break that headline. Phone and internet companies must keep their call and connection records inside the European Union, and certain police-request records must stay physically in Estonia. Online gambling companies may only place their game server in Estonia, in a country that has signed the cybercrime treaty, or in a country whose regulator has a cooperation deal with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.High confidence	Today, yes, with nothing to sign — the transfer section is not in force. From 1 January 2027 data can still leave, but you must first get a binding promise from the receiver abroad that Sri Lankan protections will be honoured. There is no banned-country list and no approved-country list: Sri Lanka scrapped its country-approval system in October 2025. No industry has a rule forcing data to stay in Sri Lanka.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	For the normal routes you file nothing with the Estonian regulator. If the destination country has been officially approved by the European Commission, you simply send the data. If it has not, you sign the European Commission's standard contract with the recipient and run a risk check on the destination first. Only two routes need Estonia's regulator to sign off: group-wide internal rules where the parent company is in Estonia, and a one-off contract you wrote yourself.High confidence	Right now, nothing. There is no approval to get, no list to check and no form to file, because the transfer section has not started. From 1 January 2027 you will need a written, binding commitment from the overseas receiver. The Authority is supposed to say exactly what form that takes, and it has not done so — only a draft from October 2024 exists, and that draft was written for a version of the law that no longer exists.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	The Data Protection Inspectorate, and it is genuinely working. It has 34 posts, a director general in her second term since May 2024, and it publishes its orders. In 2025 it took in 1,568 complaints, issued 13 orders and imposed 5 penalties. But note the shape of the risk: Estonian data protection penalties are handled like minor criminal charges, so they are slow and small, and no Estonian fine has ever approached the European ceilings. Cyber rules are enforced separately by the Information System Authority, which also publishes orders — the most recent on 5 June 2026.High confidence	The Data Protection Authority of Sri Lanka. It genuinely exists: it has a chairman, a seven-person board, a director-general, an office in Colombo and it publishes circulars and draft rules. But it has never issued a fine or a decision, and legally it cannot yet. The Authority itself says in writing that it will only investigate complaints once the relevant sections are switched on. The penalty section still has no start date.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	Estonia has some of the longest minimum keep-times in Europe. Health records must be kept for 30 years. Anti-money-laundering paperwork for 5 years after the customer leaves. Phone and internet connection records for 1 year, and the police request logs behind them for 5 years. Gambling records for 5 years. Going the other way, a dead person's data stays protected for 10 years after death, or 20 years if they died as a child, and a missed payment may only be reported to credit agencies between 30 days and 5 years after it happened.High confidence	The floor is clearer than the ceiling. Banks, finance companies and other reporting institutions must keep transaction records for six years, and identity records for six years after the account closes. The ceiling is a principle, not a number: from 1 January 2027 you must not keep personal data in a form that identifies someone for longer than the purpose needs. Where the two clash, the six-year legal duty wins.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	Count three clocks, not one. If personal data leaks, you have 72 hours to tell the Data Protection Inspectorate, and you must tell the affected people without delay if the risk to them is high. If you run an important or essential service, you have only 24 HOURS to send a first cyber-incident warning to the Information System Authority, then 72 hours for a fuller report, then one month for a final report. Trust service providers such as e-signature and certificate companies must send the fuller report inside 24 hours too. Missing the cyber deadline is punished separately from missing the privacy one.High confidence	There is no deadline, because there is no duty yet. This is unusual and worth saying plainly: as of 18 August 2026 a company suffering a data breach in Sri Lanka has no legal obligation to tell anyone. Reporting to the national cyber team is voluntary. From 1 January 2027 you must notify the Authority, but the rules that set the form and the clock are still a draft. Banks are the exception and must report technology and cyber incidents to the Central Bank.High confidence
What's the trap?	Six things that are not in the summary. (1) A child in Estonia is anyone under 13 for online services, not 16 as in much of Europe, so a consent flow tuned to Germany will over-block Estonian teenagers. (2) A dead person's data stays protected for 10 years after death, 20 if they died as a child, and the heirs control it. (3) Research on Estonians must be stripped of names BEFORE the data are handed over, an ethics committee must sign off sensitive projects, and you must name the individual who holds the key. (4) Data protection fines are handled like minor criminal charges, which makes them small but also drags a named human being into the process. (5) Since 1 January 2025 the regulator itself can sue you in court on behalf of a whole group of affected people. (6) Under the cyber law a named board member is personally responsible for security and must attend training.High confidence	Five things that will cost you a weekend. A child in Sri Lanka is anyone under sixteen, not eighteen, and a parent must consent for them. Fines are small but personal: directors can be made to pay unless they prove they did not know. The advertised start date of 18 March 2025 was cancelled four days before it arrived, so anything written before November 2025 is wrong. Company data is not protected the way you would expect, because the individual-rights section still has no start date. And the published transfer guidance describes a law that no longer exists.High confidence
What's about to change?	One near-term date stands out. Estonia's official gazette marks its own current texts of the privacy, public information, cybersecurity, telecoms, emergency, health services, health insurance and social welfare acts as valid only until 30 September 2026, so a further change starts on 1 October 2026. We could not identify the amending law, so treat that date as a hard diary entry. Beyond it, the cyber rules phase in: registration was due by 1 April 2026 and full compliance is due by 1 January 2029. From 12 January 2027 European rules make cloud switching and data export charges free.Medium confidence	One hard date and four switches. On 1 January 2027 the scope, the processing duties and the controller duties all start, and the Central Bank's new outsourcing rules for banks start the same day. Before then the Authority is expected to finalise its rules on breach reporting, impact assessments, data protection officers and overseas transfers. Watch also for a second gazette bringing individual rights and the penalty section into force — without it, the law has duties but no teeth.High confidence
Hardest industry wall	Telecoms — Elektroonilise side seadus (ESS), § 111-1	Government — Personal Data Protection Act section 26(4) and 26(5), as substituted by Act No. 22 of 2025