Compare countries

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

Countries

MaltaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: MediumEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Malta runs on the European rulebook. Data may go abroad once the right paperwork is in place, and there is no general rule that it must stay on the island. Two things break that. Online gaming companies must keep their core systems inside Europe. And any Maltese company that keeps its books abroad must still keep a copy of its accounts in Malta.
The catch: The easy answer stops being true in three places. First, online gaming, which is Malta's biggest regulated industry: a licensed operator's 'key technical setup' — including the player database, the financial database and the control system — must sit in Malta or another European Economic Area country, unless the Malta Gaming Authority approves another location one case at a time. The same operator must also run a live mirror of its essential regulatory data that the Authority can reach at any moment, including physically. Second, company law: if a company keeps its accounting records outside Malta, it must still send to Malta, and keep in Malta, accounts and returns good enough to show the financial position at least every six months. Third, government: the public administration's own cloud policy says cloud services should as a rule be inside the European Union or European Economic Area, and anything classified must go on the government's own cloud. Banking, payments, insurance, securities, health, education and mapping have no storage-location rule that we could find, checked 18 August 2026.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. Malta's Data Protection Act reaches a company with no office in Malta if it offers goods or services to people in Malta, or watches their behaviour in Malta. There is no size or revenue threshold. There is no extra Maltese representative to appoint beyond the one the European rules already require of companies based outside Europe.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general, yes. Malta has no law saying personal data must be stored on the island. It follows the European Union rules: send data outside Europe once you have an approved destination or the right contract. Three areas override that. Online gaming is the big one, and it is Malta's flagship industry.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: Use the European toolkit. Send data to a country the European Commission has approved, or sign the European standard contract, or use approved group-wide rules. Malta adds nothing on top. Malta's own minister has a power to restrict transfers of named categories of data, but has never used it, so the list of Maltese restrictions is empty today.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Information and Data Protection Commissioner. It is real, staffed and issuing decisions: its public register shows around nineteen decisions published in 2026 and thirty-eight in 2025. The fines are small by European standards — most sit between about 2,000 and 20,000 euros (roughly $2,300 to $23,000). The gaming regulator is the harder one, and it cancels licences.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is a floor and a ceiling. The floor: company accounting records for ten years, tax and value-added-tax records for at least six years, and anti-money-laundering records for five years. The ceiling: the European rule that you delete personal data once you no longer need it. Where they clash, the specific Maltese law that orders you to keep something wins, because keeping it is then a legal duty.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count three clocks, and they do not line up. Seventy-two hours to tell the privacy regulator about a personal data breach. Twenty-four hours to send a first warning about a serious cyber incident, then seventy-two hours for the full report and one month for the final one. Phone and internet companies have their own separate duty to report straight away.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. A child in Malta is thirteen, not sixteen. Health and biometric research needs the regulator's written permission before you start, not just a risk assessment. Copying someone's identity card is restricted. Leaking a client secret can be a crime, not a fine. And the gaming regulator can keep personal data forever, in a law that says so out loud.High confidence
What's about to change?: Three dated changes. On 1 January 2027 a new law stops insurers, banks and employers asking about a cancer diagnosis once enough time has passed since treatment. On 12 January 2027 European rules make cloud switching and data export fees free. And Malta's artificial intelligence rules started phasing in on 2 August 2026, with the privacy regulator now policing the market.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: All industries — Att dwar il-Kumpaniji (Kap. 386), artikolu 163

CanadaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Canada lets data leave the country. There is no approved-country list and no banned-country list. You stay responsible for the data wherever it goes, and you must tell people it may be handled abroad. The catch is that Canada is really ten jurisdictions at once, and several of them add hard storage rules on top of the national one.
The catch: The relaxed national answer stops being true the moment you touch four things: personal information about people in Quebec, a Nova Scotia public body or its suppliers, federal government data rated Protected B or higher, or a federally regulated bank. Add to that a brand-new cyber security law that says records about critical systems in banking, telecoms, energy and transport must be kept in Canada. In those places Canada is genuinely restrictive.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. Canada's national privacy law reaches a foreign company with no office here if it handles personal information about people in Canada as part of doing business. There is no revenue or headcount threshold that lets you out. You do not normally need a local representative, but payment companies are an exception: a payment firm based abroad that aims its service at people in Canada must register with the central bank and name an agent inside Canada to receive official notices.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general, yes, and with no government permission. Canada's national law does not restrict where personal data is stored or processed. But the headline is wrong for at least six groups. Quebec makes you do a written risk assessment first — and that applies even to sending data to Ontario. Nova Scotia public bodies and their suppliers must keep the data in Canada. Federal government data rated Protected B or higher must sit in Canada. Banks must keep a full copy of their records on servers in Canada. And under the new cyber security law, records about critical systems must be kept in Canada.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: At the national level there is no list at all — no approved countries, no banned countries, no government form to file. What you must do instead is stay accountable: put a contract or similar protection in place with whoever handles the data for you, and tell people plainly that their information may be processed in another country and could be seen by foreign courts, police or security agencies. Quebec is different and stricter: there you must complete a written privacy risk assessment before the data moves, and sign a written agreement.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: Canada has many regulators and they are all real, staffed and issuing decisions. The national one, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, published findings against OpenAI, X, Bell and WestJet in the first half of 2026 alone. But it cannot fine anyone — it makes findings and recommendations, and a case has to go to the Federal Court for money. Quebec's regulator can fine, and has blocked a national grocery chain from switching on a face-recognition system. Banking, payments and cyber security each have their own separate supervisor.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: The floor and the ceiling pull in opposite directions. Tax law says keep your business records for six years after the tax year they relate to, and keep them at a place of business in Canada unless the tax authority agrees to somewhere else. Privacy law says the opposite: delete personal information once the reason you collected it has gone. Where the two clash, the duty to keep wins — but only for the specific records the law names, and only for as long as it names.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count at least four clocks and they do not agree. The national privacy law gives no fixed number of hours — you report 'as soon as feasible', which in practice means days, not weeks. Payment firms get 48 hours to tell the central bank about a serious incident. Critical infrastructure operators will get no more than 72 hours to tell the national cyber agency, then must tell their own regulator immediately after. Health and provincial rules add more. The overlap is where people get caught: one incident, several reports, several deadlines.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in any summary. Quebec's cross-border rule catches you sending data to Ontario, not just abroad. Quebec also makes you tell its regulator 60 days before you switch on any face or fingerprint system, and it has already blocked a big grocery chain from doing so. British Columbia repealed its keep-it-in-Canada rule in 2021, so trackers that still show it are wrong. Nova Scotia's Canada-only rule reaches private suppliers, with fines up to half a million dollars. And your tax records have to sit at a place of business in Canada.High confidence
What's about to change?: One big bill and one big law already passed. The bill is Canada's third attempt to replace its 25-year-old privacy law: it would force a written risk assessment before any personal data goes outside Canada, give people a right to have data deleted, treat everyone under 18 as sensitive, and set up a new commissioner. It was only introduced in June 2026 and is not law — do not plan around it as if it were. The law already passed is the cyber security act, which switches on in stages over the coming year.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Government — Personal Information International Disclosure Protection Act
Government — Direction for Electronic Data Residency (ITPIN 2017-02), with the Policy on Service and Digital
Banking — Guideline B-10 Third-Party Risk Management, read with Bank Act section 245 and the equivalent provisions of the Insurance Companies Act and Trust and Loan Companies Act
All industries — Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act, enacted by the Cyber Security Act (Bill C-8)

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	MaltaChecked 18 August 2026	CanadaChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: Medium Enforcement: Active	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Active
In one paragraph	Malta runs on the European rulebook. Data may go abroad once the right paperwork is in place, and there is no general rule that it must stay on the island. Two things break that. Online gaming companies must keep their core systems inside Europe. And any Maltese company that keeps its books abroad must still keep a copy of its accounts in Malta.	Canada lets data leave the country. There is no approved-country list and no banned-country list. You stay responsible for the data wherever it goes, and you must tell people it may be handled abroad. The catch is that Canada is really ten jurisdictions at once, and several of them add hard storage rules on top of the national one.
The catch	The easy answer stops being true in three places. First, online gaming, which is Malta's biggest regulated industry: a licensed operator's 'key technical setup' — including the player database, the financial database and the control system — must sit in Malta or another European Economic Area country, unless the Malta Gaming Authority approves another location one case at a time. The same operator must also run a live mirror of its essential regulatory data that the Authority can reach at any moment, including physically. Second, company law: if a company keeps its accounting records outside Malta, it must still send to Malta, and keep in Malta, accounts and returns good enough to show the financial position at least every six months. Third, government: the public administration's own cloud policy says cloud services should as a rule be inside the European Union or European Economic Area, and anything classified must go on the government's own cloud. Banking, payments, insurance, securities, health, education and mapping have no storage-location rule that we could find, checked 18 August 2026.	The relaxed national answer stops being true the moment you touch four things: personal information about people in Quebec, a Nova Scotia public body or its suppliers, federal government data rated Protected B or higher, or a federally regulated bank. Add to that a brand-new cyber security law that says records about critical systems in banking, telecoms, energy and transport must be kept in Canada. In those places Canada is genuinely restrictive.
Does this apply to me?	Yes. Malta's Data Protection Act reaches a company with no office in Malta if it offers goods or services to people in Malta, or watches their behaviour in Malta. There is no size or revenue threshold. There is no extra Maltese representative to appoint beyond the one the European rules already require of companies based outside Europe.High confidence	Yes. Canada's national privacy law reaches a foreign company with no office here if it handles personal information about people in Canada as part of doing business. There is no revenue or headcount threshold that lets you out. You do not normally need a local representative, but payment companies are an exception: a payment firm based abroad that aims its service at people in Canada must register with the central bank and name an agent inside Canada to receive official notices.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?	In general, yes. Malta has no law saying personal data must be stored on the island. It follows the European Union rules: send data outside Europe once you have an approved destination or the right contract. Three areas override that. Online gaming is the big one, and it is Malta's flagship industry.High confidence	In general, yes, and with no government permission. Canada's national law does not restrict where personal data is stored or processed. But the headline is wrong for at least six groups. Quebec makes you do a written risk assessment first — and that applies even to sending data to Ontario. Nova Scotia public bodies and their suppliers must keep the data in Canada. Federal government data rated Protected B or higher must sit in Canada. Banks must keep a full copy of their records on servers in Canada. And under the new cyber security law, records about critical systems must be kept in Canada.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	Use the European toolkit. Send data to a country the European Commission has approved, or sign the European standard contract, or use approved group-wide rules. Malta adds nothing on top. Malta's own minister has a power to restrict transfers of named categories of data, but has never used it, so the list of Maltese restrictions is empty today.High confidence	At the national level there is no list at all — no approved countries, no banned countries, no government form to file. What you must do instead is stay accountable: put a contract or similar protection in place with whoever handles the data for you, and tell people plainly that their information may be processed in another country and could be seen by foreign courts, police or security agencies. Quebec is different and stricter: there you must complete a written privacy risk assessment before the data moves, and sign a written agreement.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	The Information and Data Protection Commissioner. It is real, staffed and issuing decisions: its public register shows around nineteen decisions published in 2026 and thirty-eight in 2025. The fines are small by European standards — most sit between about 2,000 and 20,000 euros (roughly $2,300 to $23,000). The gaming regulator is the harder one, and it cancels licences.High confidence	Canada has many regulators and they are all real, staffed and issuing decisions. The national one, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, published findings against OpenAI, X, Bell and WestJet in the first half of 2026 alone. But it cannot fine anyone — it makes findings and recommendations, and a case has to go to the Federal Court for money. Quebec's regulator can fine, and has blocked a national grocery chain from switching on a face-recognition system. Banking, payments and cyber security each have their own separate supervisor.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	There is a floor and a ceiling. The floor: company accounting records for ten years, tax and value-added-tax records for at least six years, and anti-money-laundering records for five years. The ceiling: the European rule that you delete personal data once you no longer need it. Where they clash, the specific Maltese law that orders you to keep something wins, because keeping it is then a legal duty.High confidence	The floor and the ceiling pull in opposite directions. Tax law says keep your business records for six years after the tax year they relate to, and keep them at a place of business in Canada unless the tax authority agrees to somewhere else. Privacy law says the opposite: delete personal information once the reason you collected it has gone. Where the two clash, the duty to keep wins — but only for the specific records the law names, and only for as long as it names.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	Count three clocks, and they do not line up. Seventy-two hours to tell the privacy regulator about a personal data breach. Twenty-four hours to send a first warning about a serious cyber incident, then seventy-two hours for the full report and one month for the final one. Phone and internet companies have their own separate duty to report straight away.High confidence	Count at least four clocks and they do not agree. The national privacy law gives no fixed number of hours — you report 'as soon as feasible', which in practice means days, not weeks. Payment firms get 48 hours to tell the central bank about a serious incident. Critical infrastructure operators will get no more than 72 hours to tell the national cyber agency, then must tell their own regulator immediately after. Health and provincial rules add more. The overlap is where people get caught: one incident, several reports, several deadlines.High confidence
What's the trap?	Five things that are not in the summary. A child in Malta is thirteen, not sixteen. Health and biometric research needs the regulator's written permission before you start, not just a risk assessment. Copying someone's identity card is restricted. Leaking a client secret can be a crime, not a fine. And the gaming regulator can keep personal data forever, in a law that says so out loud.High confidence	Five things that are not in any summary. Quebec's cross-border rule catches you sending data to Ontario, not just abroad. Quebec also makes you tell its regulator 60 days before you switch on any face or fingerprint system, and it has already blocked a big grocery chain from doing so. British Columbia repealed its keep-it-in-Canada rule in 2021, so trackers that still show it are wrong. Nova Scotia's Canada-only rule reaches private suppliers, with fines up to half a million dollars. And your tax records have to sit at a place of business in Canada.High confidence
What's about to change?	Three dated changes. On 1 January 2027 a new law stops insurers, banks and employers asking about a cancer diagnosis once enough time has passed since treatment. On 12 January 2027 European rules make cloud switching and data export fees free. And Malta's artificial intelligence rules started phasing in on 2 August 2026, with the privacy regulator now policing the market.High confidence	One big bill and one big law already passed. The bill is Canada's third attempt to replace its 25-year-old privacy law: it would force a written risk assessment before any personal data goes outside Canada, give people a right to have data deleted, treat everyone under 18 as sensitive, and set up a new commissioner. It was only introduced in June 2026 and is not law — do not plan around it as if it were. The law already passed is the cyber security act, which switches on in stages over the coming year.High confidence
Hardest industry wall	All industries — Att dwar il-Kumpaniji (Kap. 386), artikolu 163	Government — Personal Information International Disclosure Protection Act Government — Direction for Electronic Data Residency (ITPIN 2017-02), with the Policy on Service and Digital Banking — Guideline B-10 Third-Party Risk Management, read with Bank Act section 245 and the equivalent provisions of the Insurance Companies Act and Trust and Loan Companies Act All industries — Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act, enacted by the Cyber Security Act (Bill C-8)