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

Countries

CambodiaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: LowEnforcement: Dormant

In one paragraph: Cambodia has no general privacy law. A bill exists and went to a public review meeting in August 2026, but it is not law and there is no privacy regulator to complain to. For most businesses data can leave the country freely, with no paperwork. Banks and other lenders are the big exception: their main data centre must sit inside Cambodia.
The catch: The relaxed headline stops at the door of the financial sector. Any bank or lender supervised by Cambodia's central bank must keep at least one main data centre inside the country, and must get the central bank's permission in advance before customer personal data is moved to or hosted on servers abroad. Telecoms are also watched closely by an active regulator, and a suspended 2021 order that would push all internet traffic through a single government-controlled gateway can be switched back on at any time.
Does this apply to me?: There is no general data protection law in Cambodia, so there is nothing for a foreign company to be caught by. No size threshold, no revenue threshold, no registration, and no requirement to appoint someone in Cambodia to answer for your data. That changes the moment you need a local licence: banks, lenders and telecoms operators are licensed here and their licence conditions do reach their overseas systems. A draft privacy law was put to a validation workshop on 5 August 2026 and will proceed through the formal law-making process, so this answer has a shelf life.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general, yes, and with nothing to sign. Cambodia has no rule that stops ordinary personal data leaving the country. Finance is the one hard wall we could verify: a bank or lender supervised by the central bank must have at least one main data centre in Cambodia, may only use a foreign data centre as a backup, and needs the central bank's approval before customer personal data is hosted abroad. Telecoms is the sector to watch, because a 2021 order that would route all internet traffic through a single national gateway was never switched on but was never cancelled either.Medium confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: For most organisations, nothing at all. There is no approved-countries list, no banned-countries list, no standard contract to sign and no government form to file. The lists are not just empty, they do not exist, because there is no law that creates them. In finance the model is completely different: each move of customer personal data out of Cambodia needs its own approval from the central bank, decided case by case, and there is no published application process or timetable.Medium confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: For privacy, nobody. Cambodia has no data protection authority. The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications is writing the law and, in November 2025, ran a training workshop with Singapore's privacy regulator on how to build such an authority, which tells you plainly that one does not yet exist. Sector regulators are a different story and are genuinely working: the central bank supervises financial firms against its 2026 technology guidelines, and the telecoms regulator publicly named an operator in June 2026 for selling SIM cards without properly checking customers' identity documents.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is a floor and almost no ceiling. Tax and accounting law forces businesses to keep books and supporting documents for years, and financial firms must keep system logs and agree retention periods with their cloud providers. In the other direction there is no general rule telling anyone to delete personal data, because there is no privacy law. The only deletion duty we could verify applies to banks and lenders, who must keep customer personal data only as long as it is needed.Medium confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There is no breach reporting clock in Cambodia. No law requires you to tell a regulator or the affected people when personal data leaks, and there is no national cyber incident hotline with a deadline in hours. The nearest thing is in banking: the central bank tells supervised firms to report incidents as it requires, either on a regular cycle or one-off, with no fixed number of hours. Two draft laws would change this, so treat today's silence as temporary.Medium confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. First, the e-commerce law reportedly bans encryption that would stop evidence being used in a criminal case, which cuts across normal end-to-end encryption promises. Second, a cloud-only bank cannot operate here: the main data centre must physically be in Cambodia. Third, moving customer banking data abroad needs the central bank's permission in advance, and there is no published process or timetable, so it must be planned months ahead. Fourth, telecoms operators must check identity documents before activating a SIM card, and the regulator names offenders in public. Fifth, no privacy law does not mean no risk, because your foreign customers will impose their own rules by contract.Medium confidence
What's about to change?: Four drafts are moving and none of them is law yet. The Personal Data Protection Law reached a validation workshop on 5 August 2026 and now heads into the formal law-making process. The Cybersecurity Law was still being argued over with the Ministry of Justice in July 2026. A Data Governance Policy for 2026 to 2035 was in consultation in March 2026 and is expected to cover where data may be stored and how it may cross borders. A Digital Government Law went to consultation in July 2025. No commencement date has been announced for any of them.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Finance — Technology and Cyber Risk Management Guidelines (TCRMG)

UzbekistanChecked 18 August 2026

Yes, with paperworkWork: HighEnforcement: Waking up

In one paragraph: Uzbekistan used to say that data about its citizens had to sit on machines inside the country. In March 2026 it dropped that blanket rule. Most personal data may now be stored abroad if the destination country is on a new government approved list, or you use an approved contract, or you meet international standards. Three kinds of data still cannot leave at all.
The catch: The relaxed headline stops at three walls. Face and fingerprint data, genetic data, and data about customers of telephone and internet companies must be kept inside Uzbekistan. Banks face a separate rule that bans handing the running of their systems to an outside supplier, which blocks most managed cloud arrangements. Detailed maps are handled under state-secrecy rules.
Does this apply to me?: The law is written to cover the handling of personal data whatever tools are used, and it was aimed at foreign online platforms when the storage rules were first tightened in 2021. It does not set a size or revenue threshold, so a small foreign company is treated the same as a large one. We found no clear wording that forces a foreign company to appoint a representative living in Uzbekistan, and no explicit sentence saying the law follows the data outside the country.Medium confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Mostly yes, but only if you can point to one of three permissions. Face and fingerprint data, genetic data, and data about customers of telephone and internet companies must stay in Uzbekistan. Everything else may be stored and processed abroad if the destination country is on the government's approved list, or you sign an approved standard contract or use approved group rules, or you follow recognised international data standards.Medium confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: The model is an approved list. Before ordinary personal data leaves the country you need one of three things: the destination is on the Cabinet of Ministers' list of countries with adequate protection, or you use the standard contract terms or group rules approved by the data authority, or you meet recognised international data standards. The country list was signed on 29 July 2026 and started on 3 August 2026, so it is brand new. We could not read which countries are on it, and no approved standard contract template appears to have been published yet.Medium confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The data regulator is the State Centre for Personalization, which sits under the Cabinet of Ministers. It keeps the national register of personal data databases and can issue orders that companies and individuals must obey. It is a working government body and the registration service has run since 2020, but we found no published fines or decisions, so treat enforcement as waking up rather than active. Cyber incidents are handled by a different body, the State Security Service, and banks answer separately to the Central Bank.Medium confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: The ceiling is clear: personal data must be destroyed once the purpose is achieved, once consent is withdrawn, once the agreed period ends, or when a court orders it. The floor is thinner. Organisations covered by the cybersecurity law must keep backup copies covering at least the last three months. We did not verify the general tax and accounting minimum keeping periods during this run, so plan on the usual company record rules as well.Medium confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There are two clocks and they are not the same. The privacy law itself contains no duty to report a data breach to the regulator or to the people affected — we checked the text on 18 August 2026 and found none. The cybersecurity law is where reporting lives: organisations covered by it must tell the State Security Service about cyber incidents. Banks also report to the Central Bank under its security rules. We could not confirm a firm deadline in hours for any of these.Medium confidence
What's the trap?: First, every database of personal data has to be entered in a national register — it is a notification, it is free and it takes five working days, but skipping it is still a breach. Second, breaking the personal data rules can be a crime, not just a fine, so a named person can be prosecuted. Third, the face and fingerprint wall catches ordinary products like fingerprint logins and identity checks, not just spy technology. Fourth, banks are banned from handing the running of their technology and security systems to an outside supplier, which rules out most managed cloud and outsourced security operations. Fifth, the standard contract route for sending data abroad exists on paper but no approved template appears to have been published.Medium confidence
What's about to change?: The big change already happened in March 2026 and the follow-up is still landing. The approved country list started on 3 August 2026 and can be widened or cut by the Cabinet of Ministers at any time. The approved standard contract for sending data abroad is still missing, so watch for it. A new Tashkent International Financial Centre opened its legal regime on 25 July 2026 and its law also touched the privacy law, which may create a separate rulebook inside the centre. A national cybersecurity strategy was signed in March 2026.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: All industries — Закон «О персональных данных», статья 27-1, часть 2
Telecoms — Закон «О персональных данных», статья 27-1, часть 2 (данные пользователей услуг операторов телекоммуникаций)
Finance — Кредит бюроларининг ахборот хавфсизлиги ва киберхавфсизлигига доир минимал талаблар тўғрисидаги низом
Mapping and location — Положение о порядке установления ограничительных грифов картографических и геодезических материалов (данных)
Government — О мерах по организации деятельности Центра обработки данных системы «Электронное правительство»

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	CambodiaChecked 18 August 2026	UzbekistanChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: Low Enforcement: Dormant	Yes, with paperwork Work: High Enforcement: Waking up
In one paragraph	Cambodia has no general privacy law. A bill exists and went to a public review meeting in August 2026, but it is not law and there is no privacy regulator to complain to. For most businesses data can leave the country freely, with no paperwork. Banks and other lenders are the big exception: their main data centre must sit inside Cambodia.	Uzbekistan used to say that data about its citizens had to sit on machines inside the country. In March 2026 it dropped that blanket rule. Most personal data may now be stored abroad if the destination country is on a new government approved list, or you use an approved contract, or you meet international standards. Three kinds of data still cannot leave at all.
The catch	The relaxed headline stops at the door of the financial sector. Any bank or lender supervised by Cambodia's central bank must keep at least one main data centre inside the country, and must get the central bank's permission in advance before customer personal data is moved to or hosted on servers abroad. Telecoms are also watched closely by an active regulator, and a suspended 2021 order that would push all internet traffic through a single government-controlled gateway can be switched back on at any time.	The relaxed headline stops at three walls. Face and fingerprint data, genetic data, and data about customers of telephone and internet companies must be kept inside Uzbekistan. Banks face a separate rule that bans handing the running of their systems to an outside supplier, which blocks most managed cloud arrangements. Detailed maps are handled under state-secrecy rules.
Does this apply to me?	There is no general data protection law in Cambodia, so there is nothing for a foreign company to be caught by. No size threshold, no revenue threshold, no registration, and no requirement to appoint someone in Cambodia to answer for your data. That changes the moment you need a local licence: banks, lenders and telecoms operators are licensed here and their licence conditions do reach their overseas systems. A draft privacy law was put to a validation workshop on 5 August 2026 and will proceed through the formal law-making process, so this answer has a shelf life.High confidence	The law is written to cover the handling of personal data whatever tools are used, and it was aimed at foreign online platforms when the storage rules were first tightened in 2021. It does not set a size or revenue threshold, so a small foreign company is treated the same as a large one. We found no clear wording that forces a foreign company to appoint a representative living in Uzbekistan, and no explicit sentence saying the law follows the data outside the country.Medium confidence
Can the data leave the country?	In general, yes, and with nothing to sign. Cambodia has no rule that stops ordinary personal data leaving the country. Finance is the one hard wall we could verify: a bank or lender supervised by the central bank must have at least one main data centre in Cambodia, may only use a foreign data centre as a backup, and needs the central bank's approval before customer personal data is hosted abroad. Telecoms is the sector to watch, because a 2021 order that would route all internet traffic through a single national gateway was never switched on but was never cancelled either.Medium confidence	Mostly yes, but only if you can point to one of three permissions. Face and fingerprint data, genetic data, and data about customers of telephone and internet companies must stay in Uzbekistan. Everything else may be stored and processed abroad if the destination country is on the government's approved list, or you sign an approved standard contract or use approved group rules, or you follow recognised international data standards.Medium confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	For most organisations, nothing at all. There is no approved-countries list, no banned-countries list, no standard contract to sign and no government form to file. The lists are not just empty, they do not exist, because there is no law that creates them. In finance the model is completely different: each move of customer personal data out of Cambodia needs its own approval from the central bank, decided case by case, and there is no published application process or timetable.Medium confidence	The model is an approved list. Before ordinary personal data leaves the country you need one of three things: the destination is on the Cabinet of Ministers' list of countries with adequate protection, or you use the standard contract terms or group rules approved by the data authority, or you meet recognised international data standards. The country list was signed on 29 July 2026 and started on 3 August 2026, so it is brand new. We could not read which countries are on it, and no approved standard contract template appears to have been published yet.Medium confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	For privacy, nobody. Cambodia has no data protection authority. The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications is writing the law and, in November 2025, ran a training workshop with Singapore's privacy regulator on how to build such an authority, which tells you plainly that one does not yet exist. Sector regulators are a different story and are genuinely working: the central bank supervises financial firms against its 2026 technology guidelines, and the telecoms regulator publicly named an operator in June 2026 for selling SIM cards without properly checking customers' identity documents.High confidence	The data regulator is the State Centre for Personalization, which sits under the Cabinet of Ministers. It keeps the national register of personal data databases and can issue orders that companies and individuals must obey. It is a working government body and the registration service has run since 2020, but we found no published fines or decisions, so treat enforcement as waking up rather than active. Cyber incidents are handled by a different body, the State Security Service, and banks answer separately to the Central Bank.Medium confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	There is a floor and almost no ceiling. Tax and accounting law forces businesses to keep books and supporting documents for years, and financial firms must keep system logs and agree retention periods with their cloud providers. In the other direction there is no general rule telling anyone to delete personal data, because there is no privacy law. The only deletion duty we could verify applies to banks and lenders, who must keep customer personal data only as long as it is needed.Medium confidence	The ceiling is clear: personal data must be destroyed once the purpose is achieved, once consent is withdrawn, once the agreed period ends, or when a court orders it. The floor is thinner. Organisations covered by the cybersecurity law must keep backup copies covering at least the last three months. We did not verify the general tax and accounting minimum keeping periods during this run, so plan on the usual company record rules as well.Medium confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	There is no breach reporting clock in Cambodia. No law requires you to tell a regulator or the affected people when personal data leaks, and there is no national cyber incident hotline with a deadline in hours. The nearest thing is in banking: the central bank tells supervised firms to report incidents as it requires, either on a regular cycle or one-off, with no fixed number of hours. Two draft laws would change this, so treat today's silence as temporary.Medium confidence	There are two clocks and they are not the same. The privacy law itself contains no duty to report a data breach to the regulator or to the people affected — we checked the text on 18 August 2026 and found none. The cybersecurity law is where reporting lives: organisations covered by it must tell the State Security Service about cyber incidents. Banks also report to the Central Bank under its security rules. We could not confirm a firm deadline in hours for any of these.Medium confidence
What's the trap?	Five things that are not in the summary. First, the e-commerce law reportedly bans encryption that would stop evidence being used in a criminal case, which cuts across normal end-to-end encryption promises. Second, a cloud-only bank cannot operate here: the main data centre must physically be in Cambodia. Third, moving customer banking data abroad needs the central bank's permission in advance, and there is no published process or timetable, so it must be planned months ahead. Fourth, telecoms operators must check identity documents before activating a SIM card, and the regulator names offenders in public. Fifth, no privacy law does not mean no risk, because your foreign customers will impose their own rules by contract.Medium confidence	First, every database of personal data has to be entered in a national register — it is a notification, it is free and it takes five working days, but skipping it is still a breach. Second, breaking the personal data rules can be a crime, not just a fine, so a named person can be prosecuted. Third, the face and fingerprint wall catches ordinary products like fingerprint logins and identity checks, not just spy technology. Fourth, banks are banned from handing the running of their technology and security systems to an outside supplier, which rules out most managed cloud and outsourced security operations. Fifth, the standard contract route for sending data abroad exists on paper but no approved template appears to have been published.Medium confidence
What's about to change?	Four drafts are moving and none of them is law yet. The Personal Data Protection Law reached a validation workshop on 5 August 2026 and now heads into the formal law-making process. The Cybersecurity Law was still being argued over with the Ministry of Justice in July 2026. A Data Governance Policy for 2026 to 2035 was in consultation in March 2026 and is expected to cover where data may be stored and how it may cross borders. A Digital Government Law went to consultation in July 2025. No commencement date has been announced for any of them.High confidence	The big change already happened in March 2026 and the follow-up is still landing. The approved country list started on 3 August 2026 and can be widened or cut by the Cabinet of Ministers at any time. The approved standard contract for sending data abroad is still missing, so watch for it. A new Tashkent International Financial Centre opened its legal regime on 25 July 2026 and its law also touched the privacy law, which may create a separate rulebook inside the centre. A national cybersecurity strategy was signed in March 2026.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall	Finance — Technology and Cyber Risk Management Guidelines (TCRMG)	All industries — Закон «О персональных данных», статья 27-1, часть 2 Telecoms — Закон «О персональных данных», статья 27-1, часть 2 (данные пользователей услуг операторов телекоммуникаций) Finance — Кредит бюроларининг ахборот хавфсизлиги ва киберхавфсизлигига доир минимал талаблар тўғрисидаги низом Mapping and location — Положение о порядке установления ограничительных грифов картографических и геодезических материалов (данных) Government — О мерах по организации деятельности Центра обработки данных системы «Электронное правительство»