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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

HungaryChecked 18 August 2026

Yes, with paperworkWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Hungary has no general rule that data must stay in the country. It runs on the European rulebook: you may send data abroad if you have the right legal paperwork in place. Hungary used to force state registers to be processed on Hungarian soil, but that rule was scrapped in April 2024. The privacy regulator is real, staffed and issuing decisions, though its fines are small by European standards.
The catch: Two things break the easy answer. Since January 2025 a large slice of the economy — energy, transport, banking, health, water, digital infrastructure, waste, manufacturing and most of the public sector — may only use a shared cloud or process data outside Hungary after completing a formal data classification under the cybersecurity law. And an online casino serving Hungarian players must keep its game server inside the European Economic Area, full stop.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. A company with no office in Hungary is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Hungary or watches their behaviour, because the European privacy rules reach outside Europe. There is no revenue or headcount threshold to hide under. If you have no establishment anywhere in Europe you must appoint a written representative inside Europe, and Hungary is a perfectly ordinary place to put one.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Yes, on the normal European terms — nothing in general Hungarian law says data must be stored in Hungary. This is a change worth noticing: the rule that state registers could only be processed on Hungarian soil was repealed with effect from 1 April 2024, and the law that replaced it has no territorial restriction at all. Two sectors override this. An online casino must keep its game server inside the European Economic Area. And any company or public body inside the scope of Hungary's cybersecurity law must finish a formal data classification before it uses a shared cloud service or processes data abroad.Medium confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: You need a European transfer tool before the data leaves, and Hungary adds no extra permit, filing or fee on top. The model is an approved-list one: you may send data to a country the European Commission has declared safe, or you sign the standard European contract clauses and write down a risk assessment of the destination. There is no Hungarian government sign-off, and no Hungarian list of banned countries. For police, security and other work outside the European privacy rules, Hungary's own Info Act sets the conditions instead.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, known by its Hungarian initials NAIH, and it is genuinely working. It has published decisions right through to May 2026, released its report on 2025 activity on 30 March 2026, and issued public statements in July and August 2026. Its president is Dr Attila Peterfalvi. The catch is size, not activity: a typical fine is small — two million forint, roughly six thousand dollars, in an April 2025 data-security case.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: Hungary pushes hard in both directions. The floor is long: accounting records and vouchers must be kept for eight years, and health records for decades — the health data law works in periods of thirty years and more. The ceiling is the European rule that you delete personal data once the purpose is spent. When the two collide, the specific statutory keep-period wins, so a deletion request does not empty your ledgers or a hospital's files.Medium confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count at least two clocks, and three if you are a bank. A personal data breach goes to the privacy regulator within 72 hours. A cyber incident at a company or public body covered by the cybersecurity law goes to the national incident response centre, and the European rules that Hungary is copying use a 24-hour first alert followed by a fuller report at 72 hours. Financial firms have a separate and faster set of deadlines under the European operational resilience rules.Medium confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. One: mishandling personal data is a crime in Hungary, not just a fine — up to one year in prison, two years for sensitive data, three years for public officials. Two: the old rule forcing state data to stay in Hungary is dead, so quoting it makes you look out of date, while the new cybersecurity classification gate is very much alive and most checklists miss it. Three: several cybersecurity deadlines have already passed, so newly in-scope companies are late on day one. Four: an online casino's game server must sit in the European Economic Area. Five: Hungary's freedom-of-information regime can make your contract with a state body public.High confidence
What's about to change?: Three dated items. The Court of Justice will rule on Hungary's sovereignty protection law; the court's adviser said on 12 February 2026 that it breaks European law, and the judgment could land any time. From 12 January 2027 cloud providers across Europe, Hungary included, must charge nothing to move your data out. And Hungary's cybersecurity supervision moves from paperwork to inspections now that the first audit deadline of 30 June 2026 has passed.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: Online gaming — 1991. evi XXXIV. torveny a szerencsejatek szervezeserol es a vegrehajtasi rendeletei (online kaszinojatek engedelyezesi feltetelei)
Government — 2021. evi XCI. torveny a nemzeti adatvagyonrol, 13. §

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	IrelandChecked 18 August 2026	HungaryChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Aggressive	Yes, with paperwork Work: High 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.	Hungary has no general rule that data must stay in the country. It runs on the European rulebook: you may send data abroad if you have the right legal paperwork in place. Hungary used to force state registers to be processed on Hungarian soil, but that rule was scrapped in April 2024. The privacy regulator is real, staffed and issuing decisions, though its fines are small by European standards.
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.	Two things break the easy answer. Since January 2025 a large slice of the economy — energy, transport, banking, health, water, digital infrastructure, waste, manufacturing and most of the public sector — may only use a shared cloud or process data outside Hungary after completing a formal data classification under the cybersecurity law. And an online casino serving Hungarian players must keep its game server inside the European Economic Area, full stop.
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	Yes. A company with no office in Hungary is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Hungary or watches their behaviour, because the European privacy rules reach outside Europe. There is no revenue or headcount threshold to hide under. If you have no establishment anywhere in Europe you must appoint a written representative inside Europe, and Hungary is a perfectly ordinary place to put one.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, on the normal European terms — nothing in general Hungarian law says data must be stored in Hungary. This is a change worth noticing: the rule that state registers could only be processed on Hungarian soil was repealed with effect from 1 April 2024, and the law that replaced it has no territorial restriction at all. Two sectors override this. An online casino must keep its game server inside the European Economic Area. And any company or public body inside the scope of Hungary's cybersecurity law must finish a formal data classification before it uses a shared cloud service or processes data abroad.Medium 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	You need a European transfer tool before the data leaves, and Hungary adds no extra permit, filing or fee on top. The model is an approved-list one: you may send data to a country the European Commission has declared safe, or you sign the standard European contract clauses and write down a risk assessment of the destination. There is no Hungarian government sign-off, and no Hungarian list of banned countries. For police, security and other work outside the European privacy rules, Hungary's own Info Act sets the conditions instead.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 National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, known by its Hungarian initials NAIH, and it is genuinely working. It has published decisions right through to May 2026, released its report on 2025 activity on 30 March 2026, and issued public statements in July and August 2026. Its president is Dr Attila Peterfalvi. The catch is size, not activity: a typical fine is small — two million forint, roughly six thousand dollars, in an April 2025 data-security case.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	Hungary pushes hard in both directions. The floor is long: accounting records and vouchers must be kept for eight years, and health records for decades — the health data law works in periods of thirty years and more. The ceiling is the European rule that you delete personal data once the purpose is spent. When the two collide, the specific statutory keep-period wins, so a deletion request does not empty your ledgers or a hospital's files.Medium 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	Count at least two clocks, and three if you are a bank. A personal data breach goes to the privacy regulator within 72 hours. A cyber incident at a company or public body covered by the cybersecurity law goes to the national incident response centre, and the European rules that Hungary is copying use a 24-hour first alert followed by a fuller report at 72 hours. Financial firms have a separate and faster set of deadlines under the European operational resilience rules.Medium 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 that are not in the summary. One: mishandling personal data is a crime in Hungary, not just a fine — up to one year in prison, two years for sensitive data, three years for public officials. Two: the old rule forcing state data to stay in Hungary is dead, so quoting it makes you look out of date, while the new cybersecurity classification gate is very much alive and most checklists miss it. Three: several cybersecurity deadlines have already passed, so newly in-scope companies are late on day one. Four: an online casino's game server must sit in the European Economic Area. Five: Hungary's freedom-of-information regime can make your contract with a state body public.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	Three dated items. The Court of Justice will rule on Hungary's sovereignty protection law; the court's adviser said on 12 February 2026 that it breaks European law, and the judgment could land any time. From 12 January 2027 cloud providers across Europe, Hungary included, must charge nothing to move your data out. And Hungary's cybersecurity supervision moves from paperwork to inspections now that the first audit deadline of 30 June 2026 has passed.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	Online gaming — 1991. evi XXXIV. torveny a szerencsejatek szervezeserol es a vegrehajtasi rendeletei (online kaszinojatek engedelyezesi feltetelei) Government — 2021. evi XCI. torveny a nemzeti adatvagyonrol, 13. §