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

Countries

MongoliaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Waking up

In one paragraph: Mongolia is not an open country for data. As a rule you may not send personal data abroad at all unless the person agrees or a law says you can. On top of that, a 2023 ministry order says that any server handling sensitive data must sit in Mongolia and must be reachable only from inside Mongolia. Sensitive data is defined very widely and includes health records and the content of messages.
The catch: Do not read 'depends on your industry' as 'open in general'. The baseline is already a ban with a consent exception. The hard walls are drawn by data type as much as by industry: health data, biometrics, genetic data, criminal records, digital signature keys and the content of letters, e-mail and messages all fall inside the server-in-Mongolia rule, whatever business you are in. Government bodies, state-owned and state-part-owned companies, and any company running a government service under a law or contract face a second wall over their databases.
Does this apply to me?: Probably not, if you have no presence in Mongolia at all. The privacy law says it governs how people, companies and unincorporated bodies collect, process and use personal data, but it does not say it reaches organisations outside the country. There is no revenue or size threshold, and there is no duty to appoint a local representative. In practice the rules bite through your Mongolian company, your Mongolian server, or your Mongolian licence rather than through long-arm reach.Medium confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Only sometimes, and for a lot of data the answer is a flat no. The general rule is that sending personal data to a person, company or international body abroad is banned unless a law or a treaty allows it, or the person the data is about has agreed. Then a separate ministry order takes health data, biometrics, genetic data, criminal records, digital signature keys and the content of letters, e-mail and messages out of reach entirely: the server has to be in Mongolia and has to be reachable only from Mongolia. Government systems and the country's foundational databases must also stay in Mongolia.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: There is no approval process, no standard contract and no list of approved countries. Mongolia works the other way round: the transfer is banned, and the only ways out are a law or treaty that allows it, or the written consent of the person concerned. Consent is not a light-touch tick box. You must name every recipient before you collect the data, you must be able to prove the consent, and the person can withdraw it at any time.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: Nobody owns privacy on its own. The law splits the job three ways: the National Human Rights Commission handles complaints and supervision, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Communications writes the technical rules and takes cyber incident reports, and other state bodies police their own sectors. The ministry is clearly working: it has issued binding orders and it keeps a live register of 49 licensed information security auditors. What we could not find is any published privacy fine or decision, so treat the privacy side as switched on but not yet biting.Medium confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: Mongolia is unusual: the privacy law tells you when you may delete, not just when you must. You may only erase personal data on four listed grounds, and deleting it on any other ground is forbidden. Pulling the other way, payment businesses must keep their records for at least 15 years, anyone handling sensitive data must keep a history log of every change, deletion and restoration, and organisations running shared information systems must keep activity logs for a period fixed by government rules.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There are three clocks and none of them is measured in hours. The word the laws use is 'immediately', which they define as the shortest possible time. You tell the affected person immediately if the problem could harm them, you tell the ministry immediately if your system's security failed or you were attacked, and if you run critical national infrastructure you tell the national response centre immediately as well. Once a year, every January, you also send the human rights commission a register of the incidents you had and what you did about them.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things catch people out. First, fingerprint scanners at work are illegal for private employers: an employer may use other biometrics with the worker's consent, but never fingerprints, and may not pass that biometric data to anyone else. Second, 'sensitive data' includes the content of letters, e-mail and messages, which drags ordinary company mail systems towards the server-in-Mongolia rule. Third, financial and payment data is not classed as sensitive, but a fingerprint or face login for a banking app is, so banks land inside the strict rules by the back door. Fourth, breaking the privacy law can be a crime, not just a fine. Fifth, if you build data storage or a content delivery network inside Mongolia you need a telecoms licence.High confidence
What's about to change?: One big thing is in motion. The government decided on 13 May 2026 to build a legal framework for putting data into economic circulation and reuse, and to prepare for a green, energy-efficient data centre in Mongolia. The ministry is now consulting on a first Data Law. It is a draft, so nothing in it binds anyone yet. The bigger short-term risk is not new legislation at all: the minister can rewrite the server and storage rules by a simple order, without parliament and without consultation.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: Health and social care — Хүний эмзэг мэдээлэл, генетик болон биометрик мэдээлэл боловсруулахад баримтлах технологийн аюулгүй байдлын шаардлага, журам
Government — Нийтийн мэдээллийн ил тод байдлын тухай хууль
Mapping and location — Нийтийн мэдээллийн ил тод байдлын тухай хууль, 27.3, 27.7 дугаар зүйл
All industries — Хүний хувийн мэдээлэл хамгаалах тухай хууль, 10, 31 дүгээр зүйл

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	MongoliaChecked 18 August 2026	HungaryChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Waking up	Yes, with paperwork Work: High Enforcement: Active
In one paragraph	Mongolia is not an open country for data. As a rule you may not send personal data abroad at all unless the person agrees or a law says you can. On top of that, a 2023 ministry order says that any server handling sensitive data must sit in Mongolia and must be reachable only from inside Mongolia. Sensitive data is defined very widely and includes health records and the content of messages.	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	Do not read 'depends on your industry' as 'open in general'. The baseline is already a ban with a consent exception. The hard walls are drawn by data type as much as by industry: health data, biometrics, genetic data, criminal records, digital signature keys and the content of letters, e-mail and messages all fall inside the server-in-Mongolia rule, whatever business you are in. Government bodies, state-owned and state-part-owned companies, and any company running a government service under a law or contract face a second wall over their databases.	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?	Probably not, if you have no presence in Mongolia at all. The privacy law says it governs how people, companies and unincorporated bodies collect, process and use personal data, but it does not say it reaches organisations outside the country. There is no revenue or size threshold, and there is no duty to appoint a local representative. In practice the rules bite through your Mongolian company, your Mongolian server, or your Mongolian licence rather than through long-arm reach.Medium 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?	Only sometimes, and for a lot of data the answer is a flat no. The general rule is that sending personal data to a person, company or international body abroad is banned unless a law or a treaty allows it, or the person the data is about has agreed. Then a separate ministry order takes health data, biometrics, genetic data, criminal records, digital signature keys and the content of letters, e-mail and messages out of reach entirely: the server has to be in Mongolia and has to be reachable only from Mongolia. Government systems and the country's foundational databases must also stay in Mongolia.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?	There is no approval process, no standard contract and no list of approved countries. Mongolia works the other way round: the transfer is banned, and the only ways out are a law or treaty that allows it, or the written consent of the person concerned. Consent is not a light-touch tick box. You must name every recipient before you collect the data, you must be able to prove the consent, and the person can withdraw it at any time.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?	Nobody owns privacy on its own. The law splits the job three ways: the National Human Rights Commission handles complaints and supervision, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Communications writes the technical rules and takes cyber incident reports, and other state bodies police their own sectors. The ministry is clearly working: it has issued binding orders and it keeps a live register of 49 licensed information security auditors. What we could not find is any published privacy fine or decision, so treat the privacy side as switched on but not yet biting.Medium 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?	Mongolia is unusual: the privacy law tells you when you may delete, not just when you must. You may only erase personal data on four listed grounds, and deleting it on any other ground is forbidden. Pulling the other way, payment businesses must keep their records for at least 15 years, anyone handling sensitive data must keep a history log of every change, deletion and restoration, and organisations running shared information systems must keep activity logs for a period fixed by government rules.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?	There are three clocks and none of them is measured in hours. The word the laws use is 'immediately', which they define as the shortest possible time. You tell the affected person immediately if the problem could harm them, you tell the ministry immediately if your system's security failed or you were attacked, and if you run critical national infrastructure you tell the national response centre immediately as well. Once a year, every January, you also send the human rights commission a register of the incidents you had and what you did about them.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 catch people out. First, fingerprint scanners at work are illegal for private employers: an employer may use other biometrics with the worker's consent, but never fingerprints, and may not pass that biometric data to anyone else. Second, 'sensitive data' includes the content of letters, e-mail and messages, which drags ordinary company mail systems towards the server-in-Mongolia rule. Third, financial and payment data is not classed as sensitive, but a fingerprint or face login for a banking app is, so banks land inside the strict rules by the back door. Fourth, breaking the privacy law can be a crime, not just a fine. Fifth, if you build data storage or a content delivery network inside Mongolia you need a telecoms licence.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?	One big thing is in motion. The government decided on 13 May 2026 to build a legal framework for putting data into economic circulation and reuse, and to prepare for a green, energy-efficient data centre in Mongolia. The ministry is now consulting on a first Data Law. It is a draft, so nothing in it binds anyone yet. The bigger short-term risk is not new legislation at all: the minister can rewrite the server and storage rules by a simple order, without parliament and without consultation.Medium 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	Health and social care — Хүний эмзэг мэдээлэл, генетик болон биометрик мэдээлэл боловсруулахад баримтлах технологийн аюулгүй байдлын шаардлага, журам Government — Нийтийн мэдээллийн ил тод байдлын тухай хууль Mapping and location — Нийтийн мэдээллийн ил тод байдлын тухай хууль, 27.3, 27.7 дугаар зүйл All industries — Хүний хувийн мэдээлэл хамгаалах тухай хууль, 10, 31 дүгээр зүйл	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. §