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Countries

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

United Arab EmiratesChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Waking up

In one paragraph: The national privacy law has been in force since January 2022, but the rules that make it work were never written, so almost none of it can be enforced. Meanwhile the industries that matter have hard walls: health records, payment data, insurance data and identity-check reports must stay inside the country. Two financial districts run their own separate privacy systems, and those regulators do issue penalties.
The catch: The relaxed national picture is false the moment you touch health, payments, insurance, credit and identity checks, or government data. The national law expressly does not cover health data, banking data, government data, or companies inside the financial free zones. For most regulated businesses the national law is not the rule that binds them.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. The national privacy law reaches a company with no office in the country, as long as it handles the personal data of people inside the country. There is no revenue or headcount threshold to hide under. But the law carves out huge areas: government bodies, government data, health data, banking and credit data, and companies inside the financial free zones that have their own privacy laws.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: It depends entirely on your industry. Under the national law data can leave once you have the right paperwork, and in practice nobody is checking. But four industries have real walls. Health records may not be stored or sent abroad at all. Payment data must be stored inside the country. Insurance data must be stored inside the country. And since April 2026 the national identity-check report may not be taken out of the country at all.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: On paper the model is an approved-destinations list. The regulator is supposed to name countries whose protection is good enough, and no list has ever been published. So in practice everyone uses the fallback route: a contract with the recipient promising equivalent protection, or the person's explicit consent, or a narrow necessity exception. No government permission is needed and no filing is made, because the rules that would create those steps were never written.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: On paper the UAE Data Office. In practice it has never enforced anything: it has no public website, it has published no approved-destinations list, and the government decision that would set the fines has not been made. The regulators that really bite are elsewhere — the central bank fined a foreign bank branch about 5.4 million dollars in June 2026, and the data protection commissioner in the Abu Dhabi financial district has issued published penalty notices.Medium confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: The floors are long and they are set by industry, not by the privacy law. Health records must be kept for at least 25 years after the last treatment. Payment data must be kept for 5 years with a separate backup. Identity-check reports must be kept for at least 5 years. There is no working national deletion deadline, because the detailed rules that would set one were never issued.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There is no national deadline in hours today. The privacy law says you must tell the regulator as soon as you discover a breach, and leaves the actual timing and the wording of the notice to detailed rules that were never issued. So the clocks that really run are the ones set by your own regulator: the central bank for financial firms, and the separate data protection offices in the two financial districts. The national cyber incident reporting service is aimed at government bodies, not at private companies.Medium confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that cost people their weekend. One: the national privacy law does not cover health data, banking data, government data, or companies in the financial free zones, so most regulated firms are not governed by it at all. Two: health data may not leave the country, ever, and the fine is up to about 190 thousand dollars. Three: since April 2026 the national identity-check report may not be sent abroad. Four: a child is anyone under 18, but the parental consent line is drawn at 13. Five: there are two extra legal systems inside the country, and their regulators actually issue penalties.High confidence
What's about to change?: The single biggest thing is a rule that could appear on any Tuesday. When the government finally publishes the detailed rules under the privacy law, every company gets six months to comply and the law switches from decorative to real. Nothing signals when that will happen. In the meantime the new child safety law needs its penalty schedule, and the national identity-check platform is being rolled out across banks.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: Health and social care — Federal Law No. (2) of 2019 Concerning the Use of the Information and Communications Technology in Health Fields
Payments — Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation
Insurance — Insurance Authority Board of Directors' Resolution No. (18) of 2020 Concerning the Electronic Insurance Regulations
Banking — Cabinet Resolution No. (55) of 2026 Promulgating the Executive Regulations of Federal Decree-Law No. (30) of 2024 Regarding the "Know Your Customer" Digital Platform

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	Sri LankaChecked 18 August 2026	United Arab EmiratesChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Yes, with paperwork Work: Medium Enforcement: Waking up	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: 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 national privacy law has been in force since January 2022, but the rules that make it work were never written, so almost none of it can be enforced. Meanwhile the industries that matter have hard walls: health records, payment data, insurance data and identity-check reports must stay inside the country. Two financial districts run their own separate privacy systems, and those regulators do issue penalties.
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.	The relaxed national picture is false the moment you touch health, payments, insurance, credit and identity checks, or government data. The national law expressly does not cover health data, banking data, government data, or companies inside the financial free zones. For most regulated businesses the national law is not the rule that binds them.
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	Yes. The national privacy law reaches a company with no office in the country, as long as it handles the personal data of people inside the country. There is no revenue or headcount threshold to hide under. But the law carves out huge areas: government bodies, government data, health data, banking and credit data, and companies inside the financial free zones that have their own privacy laws.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	It depends entirely on your industry. Under the national law data can leave once you have the right paperwork, and in practice nobody is checking. But four industries have real walls. Health records may not be stored or sent abroad at all. Payment data must be stored inside the country. Insurance data must be stored inside the country. And since April 2026 the national identity-check report may not be taken out of the country at all.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	On paper the model is an approved-destinations list. The regulator is supposed to name countries whose protection is good enough, and no list has ever been published. So in practice everyone uses the fallback route: a contract with the recipient promising equivalent protection, or the person's explicit consent, or a narrow necessity exception. No government permission is needed and no filing is made, because the rules that would create those steps were never written.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	On paper the UAE Data Office. In practice it has never enforced anything: it has no public website, it has published no approved-destinations list, and the government decision that would set the fines has not been made. The regulators that really bite are elsewhere — the central bank fined a foreign bank branch about 5.4 million dollars in June 2026, and the data protection commissioner in the Abu Dhabi financial district has issued published penalty notices.Medium 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	The floors are long and they are set by industry, not by the privacy law. Health records must be kept for at least 25 years after the last treatment. Payment data must be kept for 5 years with a separate backup. Identity-check reports must be kept for at least 5 years. There is no working national deletion deadline, because the detailed rules that would set one were never issued.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	There is no national deadline in hours today. The privacy law says you must tell the regulator as soon as you discover a breach, and leaves the actual timing and the wording of the notice to detailed rules that were never issued. So the clocks that really run are the ones set by your own regulator: the central bank for financial firms, and the separate data protection offices in the two financial districts. The national cyber incident reporting service is aimed at government bodies, not at private companies.Medium 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	Five things that cost people their weekend. One: the national privacy law does not cover health data, banking data, government data, or companies in the financial free zones, so most regulated firms are not governed by it at all. Two: health data may not leave the country, ever, and the fine is up to about 190 thousand dollars. Three: since April 2026 the national identity-check report may not be sent abroad. Four: a child is anyone under 18, but the parental consent line is drawn at 13. Five: there are two extra legal systems inside the country, and their regulators actually issue penalties.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	The single biggest thing is a rule that could appear on any Tuesday. When the government finally publishes the detailed rules under the privacy law, every company gets six months to comply and the law switches from decorative to real. Nothing signals when that will happen. In the meantime the new child safety law needs its penalty schedule, and the national identity-check platform is being rolled out across banks.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall	Government — Personal Data Protection Act section 26(4) and 26(5), as substituted by Act No. 22 of 2025	Health and social care — Federal Law No. (2) of 2019 Concerning the Use of the Information and Communications Technology in Health Fields Payments — Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation Insurance — Insurance Authority Board of Directors' Resolution No. (18) of 2020 Concerning the Electronic Insurance Regulations Banking — Cabinet Resolution No. (55) of 2026 Promulgating the Executive Regulations of Federal Decree-Law No. (30) of 2024 Regarding the "Know Your Customer" Digital Platform