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

Countries

PakistanChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: MediumEnforcement: Dormant

In one paragraph: Pakistan has no general privacy law. Draft bills have been circulating since 2018 and none has been passed, and there is no privacy regulator. For most businesses, nothing stops data leaving the country. But four regulated industries are strict: telecoms, banking, payments and government all have to keep data inside Pakistan unless a regulator says otherwise.
The catch: The relaxed headline is true only until you are a telecoms licensee, a bank, an electronic money firm or a government supplier. In those four areas Pakistan is close to a hard localisation country. The permission you need comes from a regulator, one case at a time, and there is no contract or certificate you can sign instead.
Does this apply to me?: There is no general privacy law, so there is no general privacy duty that reaches a foreign company. Two other laws do reach across the border. The cybercrime law covers acts done outside Pakistan that harm a person, a computer system or data inside Pakistan. The telecoms regulator can also order any website or app that people in Pakistan can reach to take content down. There is no size or revenue threshold, and no general duty to appoint anyone in Pakistan.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general, yes, and with no paperwork, because there is no law that controls it. Four industries are the exception and they are strict. Telecoms companies need the telecoms regulator's approval to store any data outside Pakistan. Banks must put cloud data on servers inside Pakistan and cannot put core banking on a cloud at all. Electronic money firms need the central bank's written approval before moving any function abroad. Government bodies must use clouds located in Pakistan.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: At national level there is nothing to put in place, because there is no rule. In the regulated industries the model is permission, one case at a time, from the regulator that licenses you. There is no approved-country list, no government-published standard contract, and no certification scheme you can rely on instead. Because there is no list, there is also no list that can be quietly filled in.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: Nobody enforces privacy, because Pakistan has no privacy regulator. The 2023 draft bill would create one, but the bill has never been passed. What does exist and does work are the industry regulators: the central bank supervises banks and payment firms, and the telecoms regulator supervises telecoms companies. The new digital authority is staffed and publishing, but it has issued no binding rules yet. Its own website says rules will be posted when they become available.Medium confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is a floor but almost no ceiling. Telecoms and internet companies must keep connection records for at least one year, and the telecoms regulator can change that period by notice. Electronic money firms must keep records for at least ten years. The emergency response teams keep incident data for at least three years. Nothing in force tells an ordinary company when it must delete personal data.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There are three separate clocks and they do not line up. If you are in a critical sector such as banking or telecoms, you must tell your sector emergency response team and the national one within one hour. Banks must also tell the central bank within forty-eight hours. Telecoms licensees must tell the telecoms regulator within seventy-two hours. There is no general duty to tell the people whose data was exposed.High confidence
What's the trap?: The biggest trap is reading the headline and stopping. Pakistan's real data rules are licence conditions, not privacy law, so the penalty is your licence rather than a fine. Banks cannot put core banking on any cloud at all, local or foreign. Moving bank customer data abroad needs the customer's consent and the central bank's written approval. And the cybercrime law is criminal, so people go to prison, not just companies get fined.High confidence
What's about to change?: One thing is close. A National Data Governance Policy was published in draft in June 2026, consultation closed on 5 August 2026, and the digital authority says it has moved to final stage. It still needs Cabinet approval and publication in the official gazette. It would force restricted, confidential and personal government data to stay inside Pakistan. A general privacy law is still only a draft and has been for eight years.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Telecoms — Critical Telecom Data and Infrastructure Security Regulations, 2020
Banking — Enterprise Technology Governance & Risk Management Framework for Financial Institutions, with the Framework for Risk Management in Outsourcing Arrangements by Financial Institutions
Government — Pakistan Cloud First Policy

AlgeriaChecked 18 August 2026

Yes, with paperworkWork: HighEnforcement: Waking up

In one paragraph: Data can leave Algeria, but not freely. Every transfer abroad needs the national data protection authority's permission unless a listed exception applies, and breaking that rule is a crime carrying prison. Since July 2025 every organisation must have a data protection officer, a processing register and an automatic log of every operation. The regulator is staffed but has issued no known decisions.
The catch: The national rule is already strict, and three areas are stricter still. Online shops must run their site on servers inside Algeria under a .com.dz address. Electronic trust services, such as digital signatures and electronic identity, must host all the data they collect inside Algeria. Public bodies must exchange data only over a state-run network that is deliberately kept separate from the internet. Banking, insurance and securities have no storage rule that we could find, but the central bank's own website could not be reached, so treat that as unchecked rather than settled.
Does this apply to me?: Yes, it can reach a company with no office in Algeria, but the trigger is equipment, not customers. You are covered if you are set up in Algeria, or if you use any means of processing located in Algeria, such as servers or devices. In that second case you must tell the regulator the name of a representative based in Algeria, and that person takes on your rights and duties. There is no size or revenue threshold to fall below.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Yes, with permission or a listed excuse. The starting rule is that you may only send personal data to another country if the national data protection authority allows it and that country protects privacy well enough. There is a short list of exceptions that most businesses will rely on instead, such as the person's express consent or a transfer that is needed to carry out their contract. Two things are banned outright: transfers that could harm public safety or the state's vital interests, and any processing of sensitive data such as health, religion, politics or trade union membership unless a narrow exception applies.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: The model is case by case. Before data goes abroad you need the national data protection authority to authorise it, and the destination country must protect privacy well enough in the authority's judgement. There is no published list of approved countries and no official standard contract you can sign instead. In practice most companies rely on the written exceptions: the person's express consent, a transfer needed for their contract, a court claim, saving someone's life, an important public interest, an international mutual legal assistance request, medical care, or a treaty Algeria has signed.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The national data protection authority, and it does exist in real life. Fifteen members, including a president, were appointed by presidential decree on 18 May 2022 for five years, a new president was appointed in October 2023, and the authority has its own staff, pay scales, an executive secretariat, an official bulletin and internal committees. Its president was still signing published decisions in August 2025. What is missing is enforcement: in four years the official gazette shows only housekeeping texts from the authority, and no fine, order or filing procedure. Treat it as awake but not yet biting.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is a floor and a ceiling, and the floor is the one people miss. Accounting books and the paperwork behind them must be kept for ten years after the end of each financial year. Telephone and internet providers must keep the data that identifies users and their connections for one year. Online sellers must keep records of every transaction and send them to the national trade register centre. The ceiling is that personal data must not be kept in a form that identifies people for longer than the purpose needs, and keeping it too long is a crime.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There is no seventy-two hour clock here, and the five-day deadline people quote is not for ordinary businesses. If you provide a service over a public electronic communications network and data is destroyed, lost, altered, disclosed or accessed without permission, you must warn the authority and the affected person straight away, with no fixed number of hours. Failing to do that is a crime punishable by one to three years in prison. The five-day deadline added in July 2025 applies to police, prosecutors, courts and prison services, not to a normal company.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that cost people their weekend. One: this is a criminal regime. Sending data abroad in breach of the rule is punished by one to five years in prison and a fine of up to one million dinars, roughly seven thousand seven hundred US dollars, and prison can attach to individuals. Two: since 24 July 2025 every organisation must appoint a data protection officer, keep a written register of processing and keep an automatic log recording every collection, consultation, disclosure and deletion, with no exemption for small companies. Three: sensitive data is banned by default, and consent must be express, so silence or a pre-ticked box is worth nothing. Four: anything to do with national defence and security now sits completely outside the law, so there is no privacy protection to point to there. Five: a 2021 ordinance makes it a crime to disclose classified administrative documents, it reaches acts committed outside Algeria against the Algerian state, and it can force any person to hand over stored data.High confidence
What's about to change?: Three things to watch in the next twelve months. The five-year terms of the data protection authority's members, appointed on 18 May 2022, run out in May 2027, so appointments are due. The regional inspection and audit units created for the authority in July 2025 still need an implementing regulation before inspectors can appear at your door. And the rules that switch on the new government data framework, two reference documents on classifying data and cataloguing data sources, can be published by a single decision of the High Commission for Digitalisation, at which point every public body and every company running a public service must classify and catalogue its data.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Telecoms — Loi n° 26-02 fixant les regles generales relatives aux services de confiance pour les transactions electroniques et a l'identification electronique
E-commerce — Loi n° 18-05 relative au commerce electronique
Government — Decret presidentiel n° 25-320 portant mise en place d'un dispositif national de gouvernance des donnees

The same eight topics answered for each selected country
Question	PakistanChecked 18 August 2026	AlgeriaChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: Medium Enforcement: Dormant	Yes, with paperwork Work: High Enforcement: Waking up
In one paragraph	Pakistan has no general privacy law. Draft bills have been circulating since 2018 and none has been passed, and there is no privacy regulator. For most businesses, nothing stops data leaving the country. But four regulated industries are strict: telecoms, banking, payments and government all have to keep data inside Pakistan unless a regulator says otherwise.	Data can leave Algeria, but not freely. Every transfer abroad needs the national data protection authority's permission unless a listed exception applies, and breaking that rule is a crime carrying prison. Since July 2025 every organisation must have a data protection officer, a processing register and an automatic log of every operation. The regulator is staffed but has issued no known decisions.
The catch	The relaxed headline is true only until you are a telecoms licensee, a bank, an electronic money firm or a government supplier. In those four areas Pakistan is close to a hard localisation country. The permission you need comes from a regulator, one case at a time, and there is no contract or certificate you can sign instead.	The national rule is already strict, and three areas are stricter still. Online shops must run their site on servers inside Algeria under a .com.dz address. Electronic trust services, such as digital signatures and electronic identity, must host all the data they collect inside Algeria. Public bodies must exchange data only over a state-run network that is deliberately kept separate from the internet. Banking, insurance and securities have no storage rule that we could find, but the central bank's own website could not be reached, so treat that as unchecked rather than settled.
Does this apply to me?	There is no general privacy law, so there is no general privacy duty that reaches a foreign company. Two other laws do reach across the border. The cybercrime law covers acts done outside Pakistan that harm a person, a computer system or data inside Pakistan. The telecoms regulator can also order any website or app that people in Pakistan can reach to take content down. There is no size or revenue threshold, and no general duty to appoint anyone in Pakistan.High confidence	Yes, it can reach a company with no office in Algeria, but the trigger is equipment, not customers. You are covered if you are set up in Algeria, or if you use any means of processing located in Algeria, such as servers or devices. In that second case you must tell the regulator the name of a representative based in Algeria, and that person takes on your rights and duties. There is no size or revenue threshold to fall below.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?	In general, yes, and with no paperwork, because there is no law that controls it. Four industries are the exception and they are strict. Telecoms companies need the telecoms regulator's approval to store any data outside Pakistan. Banks must put cloud data on servers inside Pakistan and cannot put core banking on a cloud at all. Electronic money firms need the central bank's written approval before moving any function abroad. Government bodies must use clouds located in Pakistan.High confidence	Yes, with permission or a listed excuse. The starting rule is that you may only send personal data to another country if the national data protection authority allows it and that country protects privacy well enough. There is a short list of exceptions that most businesses will rely on instead, such as the person's express consent or a transfer that is needed to carry out their contract. Two things are banned outright: transfers that could harm public safety or the state's vital interests, and any processing of sensitive data such as health, religion, politics or trade union membership unless a narrow exception applies.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	At national level there is nothing to put in place, because there is no rule. In the regulated industries the model is permission, one case at a time, from the regulator that licenses you. There is no approved-country list, no government-published standard contract, and no certification scheme you can rely on instead. Because there is no list, there is also no list that can be quietly filled in.High confidence	The model is case by case. Before data goes abroad you need the national data protection authority to authorise it, and the destination country must protect privacy well enough in the authority's judgement. There is no published list of approved countries and no official standard contract you can sign instead. In practice most companies rely on the written exceptions: the person's express consent, a transfer needed for their contract, a court claim, saving someone's life, an important public interest, an international mutual legal assistance request, medical care, or a treaty Algeria has signed.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	Nobody enforces privacy, because Pakistan has no privacy regulator. The 2023 draft bill would create one, but the bill has never been passed. What does exist and does work are the industry regulators: the central bank supervises banks and payment firms, and the telecoms regulator supervises telecoms companies. The new digital authority is staffed and publishing, but it has issued no binding rules yet. Its own website says rules will be posted when they become available.Medium confidence	The national data protection authority, and it does exist in real life. Fifteen members, including a president, were appointed by presidential decree on 18 May 2022 for five years, a new president was appointed in October 2023, and the authority has its own staff, pay scales, an executive secretariat, an official bulletin and internal committees. Its president was still signing published decisions in August 2025. What is missing is enforcement: in four years the official gazette shows only housekeeping texts from the authority, and no fine, order or filing procedure. Treat it as awake but not yet biting.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	There is a floor but almost no ceiling. Telecoms and internet companies must keep connection records for at least one year, and the telecoms regulator can change that period by notice. Electronic money firms must keep records for at least ten years. The emergency response teams keep incident data for at least three years. Nothing in force tells an ordinary company when it must delete personal data.High confidence	There is a floor and a ceiling, and the floor is the one people miss. Accounting books and the paperwork behind them must be kept for ten years after the end of each financial year. Telephone and internet providers must keep the data that identifies users and their connections for one year. Online sellers must keep records of every transaction and send them to the national trade register centre. The ceiling is that personal data must not be kept in a form that identifies people for longer than the purpose needs, and keeping it too long is a crime.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	There are three separate clocks and they do not line up. If you are in a critical sector such as banking or telecoms, you must tell your sector emergency response team and the national one within one hour. Banks must also tell the central bank within forty-eight hours. Telecoms licensees must tell the telecoms regulator within seventy-two hours. There is no general duty to tell the people whose data was exposed.High confidence	There is no seventy-two hour clock here, and the five-day deadline people quote is not for ordinary businesses. If you provide a service over a public electronic communications network and data is destroyed, lost, altered, disclosed or accessed without permission, you must warn the authority and the affected person straight away, with no fixed number of hours. Failing to do that is a crime punishable by one to three years in prison. The five-day deadline added in July 2025 applies to police, prosecutors, courts and prison services, not to a normal company.High confidence
What's the trap?	The biggest trap is reading the headline and stopping. Pakistan's real data rules are licence conditions, not privacy law, so the penalty is your licence rather than a fine. Banks cannot put core banking on any cloud at all, local or foreign. Moving bank customer data abroad needs the customer's consent and the central bank's written approval. And the cybercrime law is criminal, so people go to prison, not just companies get fined.High confidence	Five things that cost people their weekend. One: this is a criminal regime. Sending data abroad in breach of the rule is punished by one to five years in prison and a fine of up to one million dinars, roughly seven thousand seven hundred US dollars, and prison can attach to individuals. Two: since 24 July 2025 every organisation must appoint a data protection officer, keep a written register of processing and keep an automatic log recording every collection, consultation, disclosure and deletion, with no exemption for small companies. Three: sensitive data is banned by default, and consent must be express, so silence or a pre-ticked box is worth nothing. Four: anything to do with national defence and security now sits completely outside the law, so there is no privacy protection to point to there. Five: a 2021 ordinance makes it a crime to disclose classified administrative documents, it reaches acts committed outside Algeria against the Algerian state, and it can force any person to hand over stored data.High confidence
What's about to change?	One thing is close. A National Data Governance Policy was published in draft in June 2026, consultation closed on 5 August 2026, and the digital authority says it has moved to final stage. It still needs Cabinet approval and publication in the official gazette. It would force restricted, confidential and personal government data to stay inside Pakistan. A general privacy law is still only a draft and has been for eight years.High confidence	Three things to watch in the next twelve months. The five-year terms of the data protection authority's members, appointed on 18 May 2022, run out in May 2027, so appointments are due. The regional inspection and audit units created for the authority in July 2025 still need an implementing regulation before inspectors can appear at your door. And the rules that switch on the new government data framework, two reference documents on classifying data and cataloguing data sources, can be published by a single decision of the High Commission for Digitalisation, at which point every public body and every company running a public service must classify and catalogue its data.High confidence
Hardest industry wall	Telecoms — Critical Telecom Data and Infrastructure Security Regulations, 2020 Banking — Enterprise Technology Governance & Risk Management Framework for Financial Institutions, with the Framework for Risk Management in Outsourcing Arrangements by Financial Institutions Government — Pakistan Cloud First Policy	Telecoms — Loi n° 26-02 fixant les regles generales relatives aux services de confiance pour les transactions electroniques et a l'identification electronique E-commerce — Loi n° 18-05 relative au commerce electronique Government — Decret presidentiel n° 25-320 portant mise en place d'un dispositif national de gouvernance des donnees