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Countries

LatviaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Latvia follows European Union privacy rules, so personal data may leave the country once the right paperwork is in place. But Latvia adds its own walls. Accounting records may not be stored outside the European Union at all. Phone and internet companies must hold call records for eighteen months. Banks need the central bank's blessing before handing systems to an outside supplier.
The catch: The relaxed European headline stops being true the moment you touch four things. (1) Accounting records: paper must stay in Latvia and electronic copies must stay inside the European Union, so a United States accounting or resource-planning cloud is unlawful for a Latvian company. (2) Telecoms: eighteen months of call and connection records, plus a gag on telling the customer. (3) Banking: significant outsourcing needs a filing with the central bank and a thirty-working-day wait. (4) State critical computer systems: the supplier and its owners must be from a NATO, European Union, European Free Trade Association or NATO Indo-Pacific partner country, and audit information may only be handled inside that same group of countries.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. A company with no office in Latvia is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Latvia or watches what they do online. That reach comes from the European Union privacy regulation, which applies directly in Latvia. There is no size or revenue threshold to duck under. A company based outside Europe normally has to name a contact person inside the European Union. Latvia's own privacy act adds national detail rather than a separate territorial test.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Personal data can leave Latvia, but the answer flips depending on what kind of data it is. For ordinary personal data the European rules apply: send it anywhere with the right legal instrument. For accounting records the door is shut at the edge of the European Union — paper stays in Latvia, electronic files stay inside the European Union. Phone and internet companies must keep eighteen months of call records. Banks must clear big outsourcing deals with the central bank first. State critical computer systems can only be supplied and audited from allied countries.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: For personal data the model is a permission list, not a ban list. You may send data to a country the European Commission has approved, or use the European Union's standard contract template, or use approved group-wide rules. The approved list is real and long — it includes the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and, for self-certified companies only, the United States. For accounting records none of this helps: the wall is geographic, and no contract unlocks it.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The privacy regulator is the State Data Inspectorate, and it is genuinely working, not a name on a door. In 2025 it took 1,034 complaints, ran 1,396 checks, applied corrective measures 62 times and issued fines totalling 326,400 euros (about $355,000), the largest single fine being 300,000 euros (about $327,000). It has about 32 staff. In the first half of 2026 it received 832 complaints and opened 73 checks of its own motion. Separate regulators handle banking, telecoms and cyber security, and all are staffed.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: Latvia has an unusually crowded set of minimum keeping periods and one surprising maximum. You must keep accounting registers ten years and supporting documents at least five. Phone and internet companies must keep call records eighteen months. Medical records run from one year to forty years depending on the form. In the other direction, security audit trails must normally be deleted after one year — shorter than many global logging policies allow.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count at least two clocks, and often three. If personal data is exposed you have 72 hours to tell the State Data Inspectorate, and you must tell affected people without delay if the risk to them is high. If you run an essential or important service you also have 24 hours to send an early warning to the cyber incident response body, then 72 hours for a first report — and trust service providers get only 24 hours for that first report too. Banks have a third set of reporting duties under European financial rules.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. One: a child can consent from age 13, not 16, so a Latvian teenager can sign up without a parent. Two: mishandling personal data can be a crime, not just a fine, and a company's responsible employee faces up to four years in prison. Three: your accounting system cannot sit outside the European Union, and its entries must be made in Latvian. Four: audit logs must usually be deleted after one year. Five: a bank cannot move systems to a new supplier until it has filed with the central bank and waited thirty working days.High confidence
What's about to change?: Two dated items and three switches. On 12 January 2027 the European Data Act bans cloud providers from charging customers to move their data out — a real change to cloud contracts used in Latvia. On 14 October 2026 Latvia holds its next data protection specialist qualification examination. The switches: the government may still write binding rules on where computer systems are hosted and has not done so; the European Union's approval of United States data transfers is under formal challenge; and the cyber security law is being amended piece by piece.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: All industries — Grāmatvedības likums
Government — Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 397 "Minimālās kiberdrošības prasības"

FranceChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Aggressive

In one paragraph: France follows the European rule: data may leave, but only once the right paperwork is in place. France then adds hard walls of its own. Health records must be stored inside Europe. Online gambling records must sit on a machine in mainland France. From 1 September 2026 the invoicing platform every French business must use has to run entirely from inside Europe.
The catch: "France has no local storage rule" is true for an ordinary business and false the moment you touch health data, online gambling, electronic invoicing or a government contract involving sensitive state data. In those four areas France is among the strictest countries in Europe. Since March 2026 the health rule sits in a decree, not just a certification standard, so it now binds the customer as well as the supplier.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. France reaches a company with no office in the country. European law already applies to anyone offering goods or services to people in Europe. On top of that, France's own privacy law says its national rules apply as soon as the person concerned lives in France, even when the company is based somewhere else. There is no size or revenue threshold that lets you escape.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: For an ordinary business, yes, with paperwork: the European transfer rules apply and nothing extra is added. But four French sectors override that. Health records must be stored inside Europe and nowhere else. Online gambling records must be archived in real time on hardware in mainland France. Electronic invoicing platforms must run their whole system from inside Europe. And sensitive state data must sit on a cloud that the French cyber agency has certified as beyond the reach of foreign authorities.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: The model is an approved-list one, run from Brussels rather than Paris. Data may go to a country the European Commission has formally approved, or anywhere else if you sign the official standard contract and write down why you think the data will still be safe. The list of approved countries is full, not empty: it includes the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland, Brazil and about a dozen others, plus American companies that have signed up to the transatlantic framework. France adds no separate national approval step.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The privacy regulator is the CNIL, and it is one of the busiest in Europe. In 2025 alone it issued 83 penalties totalling about 487 million euros (roughly 530 million dollars), plus 143 formal warnings. It is still fining in 2026: 5 million euros against the national employment agency in January and 5 million against a health data company in May. Separate regulators run the sector walls, and all of them are staffed and working.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is a floor and a ceiling and they pull in opposite directions. You must keep accounting books and supporting documents for ten years, tax records for six, employment contracts and pay records for five, and telephone and internet subscriber identity data for five. In the other direction, European law says you must delete personal data once you no longer need it. France resolves the clash the same way most of Europe does: the legal minimum wins, but only for the specific documents the law names, and only for as long as it names.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count the clocks, because France has at least four and they run at different speeds. Every organisation has 72 hours to tell the CNIL about a personal data breach. Telephone and internet providers have only 24 hours. Hospitals and clinics must report a serious computer security incident to their regional health agency immediately. Banks, insurers and investment firms have their own European deadlines: an initial report within 4 hours of classifying a major incident and no later than 24 hours after they notice it.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. (1) Breaking the privacy law in France is a crime, not just a fine: sending data out of Europe unlawfully carries up to five years in prison and a 300,000 euro fine (about 330,000 dollars), and it attaches to people, not only companies. (2) A child is anyone under 15 for consent, not 13 or 16. (3) A 2023 law setting a social media age of 15 is printed in the statute book but has never come into force and cannot be enforced. (4) Handing documents to a foreign court or regulator can itself be a criminal offence in France. (5) Cookies are policed separately from the rest of privacy law, so a foreign company cannot hide behind its lead European regulator.High confidence
What's about to change?: Four dates in the next twelve months. 1 September 2026: every French business must be able to send and receive invoices through an approved platform, and those platforms must run entirely from inside Europe. Around 27 September 2026: the second phase of the health data hosting decree starts. 21 October 2026: the order forcing telephone and internet companies to keep everyone's connection records for a year expires unless the Prime Minister renews it. 12 January 2027: cloud providers across Europe must drop switching and data export fees to zero.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: Health and social care — Decret n° 2026-209 du 24 mars 2026 portant modification de certaines dispositions du code de la sante publique relatives a l'hebergement de donnees de sante a caractere personnel
Government — Decret n° 2026-272 du 14 avril 2026 relatif a la protection des donnees d'une sensibilite particuliere des administrations, operateurs et groupements d'interet public de l'Etat traitees par un service d'informatique en nuage fourni par un prestataire prive
All industries — Immatriculation des plateformes agreees (ex plateformes de dematerialisation partenaires) - facturation electronique
Online gaming — Article 31 de la loi n° 2010-476 du 12 mai 2010 relative a l'ouverture a la concurrence et a la regulation du secteur des jeux d'argent et de hasard en ligne

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	LatviaChecked 18 August 2026	FranceChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Active	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Aggressive
In one paragraph	Latvia follows European Union privacy rules, so personal data may leave the country once the right paperwork is in place. But Latvia adds its own walls. Accounting records may not be stored outside the European Union at all. Phone and internet companies must hold call records for eighteen months. Banks need the central bank's blessing before handing systems to an outside supplier.	France follows the European rule: data may leave, but only once the right paperwork is in place. France then adds hard walls of its own. Health records must be stored inside Europe. Online gambling records must sit on a machine in mainland France. From 1 September 2026 the invoicing platform every French business must use has to run entirely from inside Europe.
The catch	The relaxed European headline stops being true the moment you touch four things. (1) Accounting records: paper must stay in Latvia and electronic copies must stay inside the European Union, so a United States accounting or resource-planning cloud is unlawful for a Latvian company. (2) Telecoms: eighteen months of call and connection records, plus a gag on telling the customer. (3) Banking: significant outsourcing needs a filing with the central bank and a thirty-working-day wait. (4) State critical computer systems: the supplier and its owners must be from a NATO, European Union, European Free Trade Association or NATO Indo-Pacific partner country, and audit information may only be handled inside that same group of countries.	"France has no local storage rule" is true for an ordinary business and false the moment you touch health data, online gambling, electronic invoicing or a government contract involving sensitive state data. In those four areas France is among the strictest countries in Europe. Since March 2026 the health rule sits in a decree, not just a certification standard, so it now binds the customer as well as the supplier.
Does this apply to me?	Yes. A company with no office in Latvia is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Latvia or watches what they do online. That reach comes from the European Union privacy regulation, which applies directly in Latvia. There is no size or revenue threshold to duck under. A company based outside Europe normally has to name a contact person inside the European Union. Latvia's own privacy act adds national detail rather than a separate territorial test.High confidence	Yes. France reaches a company with no office in the country. European law already applies to anyone offering goods or services to people in Europe. On top of that, France's own privacy law says its national rules apply as soon as the person concerned lives in France, even when the company is based somewhere else. There is no size or revenue threshold that lets you escape.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?	Personal data can leave Latvia, but the answer flips depending on what kind of data it is. For ordinary personal data the European rules apply: send it anywhere with the right legal instrument. For accounting records the door is shut at the edge of the European Union — paper stays in Latvia, electronic files stay inside the European Union. Phone and internet companies must keep eighteen months of call records. Banks must clear big outsourcing deals with the central bank first. State critical computer systems can only be supplied and audited from allied countries.High confidence	For an ordinary business, yes, with paperwork: the European transfer rules apply and nothing extra is added. But four French sectors override that. Health records must be stored inside Europe and nowhere else. Online gambling records must be archived in real time on hardware in mainland France. Electronic invoicing platforms must run their whole system from inside Europe. And sensitive state data must sit on a cloud that the French cyber agency has certified as beyond the reach of foreign authorities.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	For personal data the model is a permission list, not a ban list. You may send data to a country the European Commission has approved, or use the European Union's standard contract template, or use approved group-wide rules. The approved list is real and long — it includes the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and, for self-certified companies only, the United States. For accounting records none of this helps: the wall is geographic, and no contract unlocks it.High confidence	The model is an approved-list one, run from Brussels rather than Paris. Data may go to a country the European Commission has formally approved, or anywhere else if you sign the official standard contract and write down why you think the data will still be safe. The list of approved countries is full, not empty: it includes the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland, Brazil and about a dozen others, plus American companies that have signed up to the transatlantic framework. France adds no separate national approval step.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	The privacy regulator is the State Data Inspectorate, and it is genuinely working, not a name on a door. In 2025 it took 1,034 complaints, ran 1,396 checks, applied corrective measures 62 times and issued fines totalling 326,400 euros (about $355,000), the largest single fine being 300,000 euros (about $327,000). It has about 32 staff. In the first half of 2026 it received 832 complaints and opened 73 checks of its own motion. Separate regulators handle banking, telecoms and cyber security, and all are staffed.High confidence	The privacy regulator is the CNIL, and it is one of the busiest in Europe. In 2025 alone it issued 83 penalties totalling about 487 million euros (roughly 530 million dollars), plus 143 formal warnings. It is still fining in 2026: 5 million euros against the national employment agency in January and 5 million against a health data company in May. Separate regulators run the sector walls, and all of them are staffed and working.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	Latvia has an unusually crowded set of minimum keeping periods and one surprising maximum. You must keep accounting registers ten years and supporting documents at least five. Phone and internet companies must keep call records eighteen months. Medical records run from one year to forty years depending on the form. In the other direction, security audit trails must normally be deleted after one year — shorter than many global logging policies allow.High confidence	There is a floor and a ceiling and they pull in opposite directions. You must keep accounting books and supporting documents for ten years, tax records for six, employment contracts and pay records for five, and telephone and internet subscriber identity data for five. In the other direction, European law says you must delete personal data once you no longer need it. France resolves the clash the same way most of Europe does: the legal minimum wins, but only for the specific documents the law names, and only for as long as it names.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	Count at least two clocks, and often three. If personal data is exposed you have 72 hours to tell the State Data Inspectorate, and you must tell affected people without delay if the risk to them is high. If you run an essential or important service you also have 24 hours to send an early warning to the cyber incident response body, then 72 hours for a first report — and trust service providers get only 24 hours for that first report too. Banks have a third set of reporting duties under European financial rules.High confidence	Count the clocks, because France has at least four and they run at different speeds. Every organisation has 72 hours to tell the CNIL about a personal data breach. Telephone and internet providers have only 24 hours. Hospitals and clinics must report a serious computer security incident to their regional health agency immediately. Banks, insurers and investment firms have their own European deadlines: an initial report within 4 hours of classifying a major incident and no later than 24 hours after they notice it.High confidence
What's the trap?	Five things that are not in the summary. One: a child can consent from age 13, not 16, so a Latvian teenager can sign up without a parent. Two: mishandling personal data can be a crime, not just a fine, and a company's responsible employee faces up to four years in prison. Three: your accounting system cannot sit outside the European Union, and its entries must be made in Latvian. Four: audit logs must usually be deleted after one year. Five: a bank cannot move systems to a new supplier until it has filed with the central bank and waited thirty working days.High confidence	Five things that are not in the summary. (1) Breaking the privacy law in France is a crime, not just a fine: sending data out of Europe unlawfully carries up to five years in prison and a 300,000 euro fine (about 330,000 dollars), and it attaches to people, not only companies. (2) A child is anyone under 15 for consent, not 13 or 16. (3) A 2023 law setting a social media age of 15 is printed in the statute book but has never come into force and cannot be enforced. (4) Handing documents to a foreign court or regulator can itself be a criminal offence in France. (5) Cookies are policed separately from the rest of privacy law, so a foreign company cannot hide behind its lead European regulator.High confidence
What's about to change?	Two dated items and three switches. On 12 January 2027 the European Data Act bans cloud providers from charging customers to move their data out — a real change to cloud contracts used in Latvia. On 14 October 2026 Latvia holds its next data protection specialist qualification examination. The switches: the government may still write binding rules on where computer systems are hosted and has not done so; the European Union's approval of United States data transfers is under formal challenge; and the cyber security law is being amended piece by piece.Medium confidence	Four dates in the next twelve months. 1 September 2026: every French business must be able to send and receive invoices through an approved platform, and those platforms must run entirely from inside Europe. Around 27 September 2026: the second phase of the health data hosting decree starts. 21 October 2026: the order forcing telephone and internet companies to keep everyone's connection records for a year expires unless the Prime Minister renews it. 12 January 2027: cloud providers across Europe must drop switching and data export fees to zero.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall	All industries — Grāmatvedības likums Government — Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 397 "Minimālās kiberdrošības prasības"	Health and social care — Decret n° 2026-209 du 24 mars 2026 portant modification de certaines dispositions du code de la sante publique relatives a l'hebergement de donnees de sante a caractere personnel Government — Decret n° 2026-272 du 14 avril 2026 relatif a la protection des donnees d'une sensibilite particuliere des administrations, operateurs et groupements d'interet public de l'Etat traitees par un service d'informatique en nuage fourni par un prestataire prive All industries — Immatriculation des plateformes agreees (ex plateformes de dematerialisation partenaires) - facturation electronique Online gaming — Article 31 de la loi n° 2010-476 du 12 mai 2010 relative a l'ouverture a la concurrence et a la regulation du secteur des jeux d'argent et de hasard en ligne