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

Countries

IrelandChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Aggressive

In one paragraph: Ireland follows Europe's rules, so personal data can leave the country once you have the right paperwork in place. But a handful of Irish laws force certain records to be kept physically in Ireland, and breaking those is a crime rather than a fine. Ireland's privacy regulator is one of the toughest in Europe: in 2025 it fined TikTok 530 million euro and ordered it to stop sending data to China.
The catch: The relaxed headline stops being true in four places. Trust and company service providers, and cheque-cashing firms, must keep their anti-money-laundering records at premises inside Ireland for six years, and failing to do so is a criminal offence carrying up to five years in prison. Every Irish company must keep accounting information and returns at a place in Ireland even when the books themselves sit on a foreign server. Health records and telephone and internet connection records each have their own separate rules on top.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. Ireland's data protection law reaches a company with no office in Ireland whenever it offers goods or services to people in Europe or watches what they do online. There is no revenue or headcount threshold to duck under. A company based outside Europe normally has to name a representative inside Europe who regulators and members of the public can write to.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general, yes, with paperwork. Ireland does not have a general rule saying personal data must stay in the country. Sending it outside Europe is allowed once you use one of the approved legal routes. But several Irish laws quietly demand that particular records sit on Irish soil, and those override the friendly headline.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: Ireland uses the European model. A destination outside Europe is off limits unless it is on the European Commission's approved list, or you put an approved safeguard in place first. The approved list is real and populated: it currently covers seventeen destinations, including the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Brazil. The United States counts only for companies that have signed up to the European Union to United States Data Privacy Framework.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Data Protection Commission, and it is very much awake. It has three commissioners in post — Des Hogan as chairperson, Dale Sunderland and Niamh Sweeney — and it published its 2025 annual report on 30 June 2026. In 2025 it finished four large inquiries and imposed fines of just over 530 million euro (about 580 million US dollars), almost all of it on TikTok, which it also ordered to stop sending European user data to China.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: Both directions apply, and Ireland's floors are longer than most people expect. Anti-money-laundering customer records must be kept for at least five years. Company accounting records and returns must be kept for at least six years. Trust and company service providers and cheque-cashing firms must keep their records for six years and keep them in Ireland. Telephone and internet providers must keep subscriber details for one year.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count three clocks, not one. You have 72 hours to tell the Data Protection Commission about a personal data breach that puts people at risk, and you must tell the affected people without delay if the risk is high. Telephone and internet providers report through a separate channel under separate rules. And if the police send you an order to take down terrorist content, you have one hour.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that cost people their weekend. First, Ireland's famous ban on advertising to children has never actually switched on. Second, the official copy of the law on the government's own statute website can be out of date and misleading. Third, a child in Ireland is anyone under 16 for consent purposes, not 13. Fourth, some record-keeping failures are crimes, not fines. Fifth, the regulator can only fine a public body up to 1 million euro (about 1.1 million US dollars), so it uses stop orders instead.High confidence
What's about to change?: Three things land in the next year. Ireland's new health records law is switching on in stages, and the parts that let doctors share your file and that allow sharing with countries outside Europe are still switched off. Europe's cloud switching rules make all data exit fees zero on 12 January 2027. And Ireland still has not written the European cybersecurity directive into Irish law, almost two years past the deadline.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Finance — Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, section 106
Payments — Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, section 108I
All industries — Companies Act 2014, sections 283 and 285

ArgentinaChecked 18 August 2026

Yes, with paperworkWork: MediumEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Argentina lets personal data leave the country, but only on paper terms it sets. You either send it to a country the regulator has approved, or you sign the regulator's own model contract with the receiver. No industry has to keep data inside Argentina. Fines are tiny in dollars, but the regulator can order a database shut down, and some misuse is a crime.
The catch: There is no data-residency wall in Argentina, but four sector rules still catch people out. Banks and payment firms must run their technology and security management from inside Argentina, must tell the banking supervisor before they outsource, and must report a cyber incident within one hour. Government bodies must have a working backup data centre by late 2026. And nobody may publish a map showing Argentine territory without the national mapping agency's prior approval.
Does this apply to me?: The main privacy law is Ley 25.326, passed in 2000. It covers personal data held in any file or database in Argentina, public or private. There is no size threshold, no revenue threshold, and no duty to appoint a local representative. The law does not clearly say it reaches a foreign company with no presence in Argentina, and in practice the regulator has acted against local subsidiaries of global firms rather than against foreign entities directly.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Yes, with paperwork. The rule is that personal data may not go to a country that does not protect it well enough. The regulator publishes a list of countries it accepts, and for everywhere else you sign its model contract with the receiver. We looked for industries that must keep data inside Argentina - banking, payments, insurance, securities, health, telecoms, government cloud and mapping - and found none as of 18 August 2026.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: The model is an approved-destinations list, and it is populated today with about a dozen places, including the whole European Union. If your destination is not on it, use the regulator's published model contract - two versions, one for handing data to another company that decides how to use it and one for a supplier processing it for you. Using the published wording needs no permission. If you change the wording, you must file the contract with the regulator within 30 days of signing.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Agency for Access to Public Information, known by its Spanish initials AAIP, enforces both privacy and freedom of information. It is real and working: it has a named head, it publishes a register of final penalties that was updated on 3 July 2026, it opened a public investigation into debt-collection calls in April 2026, and it chaired an international data-protection committee in July 2026. Its 244 final penalties are mostly small, and more than half are for calling people on the do-not-call list.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: Argentina has strong floors and one hard ceiling. Anti-money-laundering rules make banks, insurers, crypto firms, accountants and estate agents keep transaction records and customer files for at least ten years. Clinical records must be kept ten years from the last entry. Banks must keep audit and accounting support data six years and produce it immediately on demand. The ceiling: credit-reporting data may only show the last five years, dropping to two years once the debt is paid.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There is no general duty to report a data breach in Argentina, checked on 18 August 2026 - the privacy law has no deadline and the regulator's security rules are recommendations, not commands. Finance is the exception and the clock is brutal: banks and registered payment firms must tell the banking supervisor within one hour of an incident happening or being spotted, keep sending updates, and file a closing report within five days.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things bite people. Answer times are very short: ten days for an access request and five working days to correct or delete. The maximum fine is one hundred thousand pesos, about seventy US dollars, so the real risk is a shutdown order or a criminal case, not the fine. Databases still have to be registered. Publishing a map of Argentina needs government approval first. And a bank cannot run its technology and security management from abroad.High confidence
What's about to change?: Nothing is scheduled to replace the privacy law. A reform bill went to Congress in 2023 and never became law; the regulator is still campaigning for a new one. The dated thing to watch is government cybersecurity: public bodies have about 180 days from 13 May 2026 to have contingency plans and a working alternative data centre, which lands around November 2026, and a new national cybersecurity centre started issuing rules in 2026.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: None found.

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	IrelandChecked 18 August 2026	ArgentinaChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Aggressive	Yes, with paperwork Work: Medium Enforcement: Active
In one paragraph	Ireland follows Europe's rules, so personal data can leave the country once you have the right paperwork in place. But a handful of Irish laws force certain records to be kept physically in Ireland, and breaking those is a crime rather than a fine. Ireland's privacy regulator is one of the toughest in Europe: in 2025 it fined TikTok 530 million euro and ordered it to stop sending data to China.	Argentina lets personal data leave the country, but only on paper terms it sets. You either send it to a country the regulator has approved, or you sign the regulator's own model contract with the receiver. No industry has to keep data inside Argentina. Fines are tiny in dollars, but the regulator can order a database shut down, and some misuse is a crime.
The catch	The relaxed headline stops being true in four places. Trust and company service providers, and cheque-cashing firms, must keep their anti-money-laundering records at premises inside Ireland for six years, and failing to do so is a criminal offence carrying up to five years in prison. Every Irish company must keep accounting information and returns at a place in Ireland even when the books themselves sit on a foreign server. Health records and telephone and internet connection records each have their own separate rules on top.	There is no data-residency wall in Argentina, but four sector rules still catch people out. Banks and payment firms must run their technology and security management from inside Argentina, must tell the banking supervisor before they outsource, and must report a cyber incident within one hour. Government bodies must have a working backup data centre by late 2026. And nobody may publish a map showing Argentine territory without the national mapping agency's prior approval.
Does this apply to me?	Yes. Ireland's data protection law reaches a company with no office in Ireland whenever it offers goods or services to people in Europe or watches what they do online. There is no revenue or headcount threshold to duck under. A company based outside Europe normally has to name a representative inside Europe who regulators and members of the public can write to.High confidence	The main privacy law is Ley 25.326, passed in 2000. It covers personal data held in any file or database in Argentina, public or private. There is no size threshold, no revenue threshold, and no duty to appoint a local representative. The law does not clearly say it reaches a foreign company with no presence in Argentina, and in practice the regulator has acted against local subsidiaries of global firms rather than against foreign entities directly.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?	In general, yes, with paperwork. Ireland does not have a general rule saying personal data must stay in the country. Sending it outside Europe is allowed once you use one of the approved legal routes. But several Irish laws quietly demand that particular records sit on Irish soil, and those override the friendly headline.High confidence	Yes, with paperwork. The rule is that personal data may not go to a country that does not protect it well enough. The regulator publishes a list of countries it accepts, and for everywhere else you sign its model contract with the receiver. We looked for industries that must keep data inside Argentina - banking, payments, insurance, securities, health, telecoms, government cloud and mapping - and found none as of 18 August 2026.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	Ireland uses the European model. A destination outside Europe is off limits unless it is on the European Commission's approved list, or you put an approved safeguard in place first. The approved list is real and populated: it currently covers seventeen destinations, including the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Brazil. The United States counts only for companies that have signed up to the European Union to United States Data Privacy Framework.High confidence	The model is an approved-destinations list, and it is populated today with about a dozen places, including the whole European Union. If your destination is not on it, use the regulator's published model contract - two versions, one for handing data to another company that decides how to use it and one for a supplier processing it for you. Using the published wording needs no permission. If you change the wording, you must file the contract with the regulator within 30 days of signing.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	The Data Protection Commission, and it is very much awake. It has three commissioners in post — Des Hogan as chairperson, Dale Sunderland and Niamh Sweeney — and it published its 2025 annual report on 30 June 2026. In 2025 it finished four large inquiries and imposed fines of just over 530 million euro (about 580 million US dollars), almost all of it on TikTok, which it also ordered to stop sending European user data to China.High confidence	The Agency for Access to Public Information, known by its Spanish initials AAIP, enforces both privacy and freedom of information. It is real and working: it has a named head, it publishes a register of final penalties that was updated on 3 July 2026, it opened a public investigation into debt-collection calls in April 2026, and it chaired an international data-protection committee in July 2026. Its 244 final penalties are mostly small, and more than half are for calling people on the do-not-call list.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	Both directions apply, and Ireland's floors are longer than most people expect. Anti-money-laundering customer records must be kept for at least five years. Company accounting records and returns must be kept for at least six years. Trust and company service providers and cheque-cashing firms must keep their records for six years and keep them in Ireland. Telephone and internet providers must keep subscriber details for one year.High confidence	Argentina has strong floors and one hard ceiling. Anti-money-laundering rules make banks, insurers, crypto firms, accountants and estate agents keep transaction records and customer files for at least ten years. Clinical records must be kept ten years from the last entry. Banks must keep audit and accounting support data six years and produce it immediately on demand. The ceiling: credit-reporting data may only show the last five years, dropping to two years once the debt is paid.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	Count three clocks, not one. You have 72 hours to tell the Data Protection Commission about a personal data breach that puts people at risk, and you must tell the affected people without delay if the risk is high. Telephone and internet providers report through a separate channel under separate rules. And if the police send you an order to take down terrorist content, you have one hour.High confidence	There is no general duty to report a data breach in Argentina, checked on 18 August 2026 - the privacy law has no deadline and the regulator's security rules are recommendations, not commands. Finance is the exception and the clock is brutal: banks and registered payment firms must tell the banking supervisor within one hour of an incident happening or being spotted, keep sending updates, and file a closing report within five days.High confidence
What's the trap?	Five things that cost people their weekend. First, Ireland's famous ban on advertising to children has never actually switched on. Second, the official copy of the law on the government's own statute website can be out of date and misleading. Third, a child in Ireland is anyone under 16 for consent purposes, not 13. Fourth, some record-keeping failures are crimes, not fines. Fifth, the regulator can only fine a public body up to 1 million euro (about 1.1 million US dollars), so it uses stop orders instead.High confidence	Five things bite people. Answer times are very short: ten days for an access request and five working days to correct or delete. The maximum fine is one hundred thousand pesos, about seventy US dollars, so the real risk is a shutdown order or a criminal case, not the fine. Databases still have to be registered. Publishing a map of Argentina needs government approval first. And a bank cannot run its technology and security management from abroad.High confidence
What's about to change?	Three things land in the next year. Ireland's new health records law is switching on in stages, and the parts that let doctors share your file and that allow sharing with countries outside Europe are still switched off. Europe's cloud switching rules make all data exit fees zero on 12 January 2027. And Ireland still has not written the European cybersecurity directive into Irish law, almost two years past the deadline.High confidence	Nothing is scheduled to replace the privacy law. A reform bill went to Congress in 2023 and never became law; the regulator is still campaigning for a new one. The dated thing to watch is government cybersecurity: public bodies have about 180 days from 13 May 2026 to have contingency plans and a working alternative data centre, which lands around November 2026, and a new national cybersecurity centre started issuing rules in 2026.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall	Finance — Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, section 106 Payments — Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, section 108I All industries — Companies Act 2014, sections 283 and 285	None found.