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

Countries

NetherlandsChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Aggressive

In one paragraph: For most businesses the Netherlands follows the ordinary European rules: data may leave the country once you have the right paperwork in place. Two areas are much harder. Online gambling firms must keep their regulator-facing database physically in the Netherlands, and central government now has to keep all its information inside Europe. The Dutch privacy regulator hands out some of the largest transfer fines in Europe.
The catch: The relaxed headline stops being true the moment you touch online gambling, central government work, health records or a regulated financial firm. An online gambling licence forces one database onto Dutch soil. Central government contracts now bar storage outside Europe. And a brand-new cybersecurity law switched on three days ago, on 15 August 2026, with a 24-hour incident alarm most companies have not built yet.
Does this apply to me?: Yes, it reaches you with no Dutch office. Europe's privacy law applies to any organisation anywhere that offers goods or services to people in the Netherlands or watches what they do online, and there is no size or revenue floor. Separately, the new Dutch cybersecurity law says that if you are a cloud provider, data centre, managed service provider, online marketplace, search engine or social network based outside Europe but selling into the Netherlands, you must appoint a representative inside the European Union.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general yes, with paperwork, because the Netherlands is an EU country and European rules govern transfers. But three Dutch walls override that. An online gambling licence holder must physically place its regulator-facing control database in the Netherlands. Central government must keep all its information inside the European Economic Area plus Switzerland. And a healthcare provider, bank or insurer can put data abroad only if the supervisor can still see and audit it.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: The model is an allowlist run at European level, not a Dutch one. You may send personal data outside Europe only if the destination has been officially approved, or you sign the standard European contract, or you use approved group-wide rules. The approved list is full and active. The Netherlands adds no national approval step and keeps no blocklist of its own.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Dutch Data Protection Authority, and it is very much operational and very much willing to fine. It has a full three-person board, and a new chair, Geert Potjewijd, took office on 1 August 2026. It has issued two of the largest cross-border transfer fines in Europe: 290 million euros against Uber in 2024 and 100 million euros against a taxi app in May 2026. Cybersecurity is enforced separately, by sector ministries and inspectorates, and that machinery is only now being assembled.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is a firm floor and a soft ceiling. You must keep your books and tax records for seven years, and money-laundering records for five years after the relationship or transaction ends. Against that, privacy law says you must delete personal data once you no longer need it, and there is no fixed number. When the two collide, the legal duty to keep wins for as long as it lasts, and deletion follows immediately after.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count three clocks, not one. For a personal data breach you have 72 hours to tell the Dutch Data Protection Authority. If you are covered by the new cybersecurity law that started on 15 August 2026, you must raise an early warning within 24 hours, file a full report within 72 hours, and deliver a final report within one month. Telecom operators have a fourth clock and must tell the privacy regulator without delay.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. Your works council can block an HR or monitoring system. Breaking a professional secrecy duty is a crime, not a fine. The telecom retention duty printed in the law cannot be enforced. Children need a parent's permission until they turn sixteen. And the new cybersecurity law started on 15 August 2026 with a phased exception for universities that most checklists miss.High confidence
What's about to change?: Three dated changes. On 1 September 2026 an amendment act tidies up the Dutch privacy law and adds new rules for handing over health files, but one part of it has deliberately been left switched off. Registration and incident duties under the cybersecurity law that started on 15 August 2026 are being phased in now. And by 12 January 2027 every cloud provider must drop switching and data export charges to zero across Europe.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Online gaming — Besluit kansspelen op afstand, artikel 4.42, tweede lid
Government — Herziening rijksbreed cloudbeleid 2026

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	NetherlandsChecked 18 August 2026	HungaryChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Aggressive	Yes, with paperwork Work: High Enforcement: Active
In one paragraph	For most businesses the Netherlands follows the ordinary European rules: data may leave the country once you have the right paperwork in place. Two areas are much harder. Online gambling firms must keep their regulator-facing database physically in the Netherlands, and central government now has to keep all its information inside Europe. The Dutch privacy regulator hands out some of the largest transfer fines in Europe.	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	The relaxed headline stops being true the moment you touch online gambling, central government work, health records or a regulated financial firm. An online gambling licence forces one database onto Dutch soil. Central government contracts now bar storage outside Europe. And a brand-new cybersecurity law switched on three days ago, on 15 August 2026, with a 24-hour incident alarm most companies have not built yet.	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, it reaches you with no Dutch office. Europe's privacy law applies to any organisation anywhere that offers goods or services to people in the Netherlands or watches what they do online, and there is no size or revenue floor. Separately, the new Dutch cybersecurity law says that if you are a cloud provider, data centre, managed service provider, online marketplace, search engine or social network based outside Europe but selling into the Netherlands, you must appoint a representative inside the European Union.High 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?	In general yes, with paperwork, because the Netherlands is an EU country and European rules govern transfers. But three Dutch walls override that. An online gambling licence holder must physically place its regulator-facing control database in the Netherlands. Central government must keep all its information inside the European Economic Area plus Switzerland. And a healthcare provider, bank or insurer can put data abroad only if the supervisor can still see and audit it.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?	The model is an allowlist run at European level, not a Dutch one. You may send personal data outside Europe only if the destination has been officially approved, or you sign the standard European contract, or you use approved group-wide rules. The approved list is full and active. The Netherlands adds no national approval step and keeps no blocklist of its own.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?	The Dutch Data Protection Authority, and it is very much operational and very much willing to fine. It has a full three-person board, and a new chair, Geert Potjewijd, took office on 1 August 2026. It has issued two of the largest cross-border transfer fines in Europe: 290 million euros against Uber in 2024 and 100 million euros against a taxi app in May 2026. Cybersecurity is enforced separately, by sector ministries and inspectorates, and that machinery is only now being assembled.High 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?	There is a firm floor and a soft ceiling. You must keep your books and tax records for seven years, and money-laundering records for five years after the relationship or transaction ends. Against that, privacy law says you must delete personal data once you no longer need it, and there is no fixed number. When the two collide, the legal duty to keep wins for as long as it lasts, and deletion follows immediately after.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?	Count three clocks, not one. For a personal data breach you have 72 hours to tell the Dutch Data Protection Authority. If you are covered by the new cybersecurity law that started on 15 August 2026, you must raise an early warning within 24 hours, file a full report within 72 hours, and deliver a final report within one month. Telecom operators have a fourth clock and must tell the privacy regulator without delay.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 that are not in the summary. Your works council can block an HR or monitoring system. Breaking a professional secrecy duty is a crime, not a fine. The telecom retention duty printed in the law cannot be enforced. Children need a parent's permission until they turn sixteen. And the new cybersecurity law started on 15 August 2026 with a phased exception for universities that most checklists miss.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?	Three dated changes. On 1 September 2026 an amendment act tidies up the Dutch privacy law and adds new rules for handing over health files, but one part of it has deliberately been left switched off. Registration and incident duties under the cybersecurity law that started on 15 August 2026 are being phased in now. And by 12 January 2027 every cloud provider must drop switching and data export charges to zero across Europe.High 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	Online gaming — Besluit kansspelen op afstand, artikel 4.42, tweede lid Government — Herziening rijksbreed cloudbeleid 2026	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. §