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

Countries

PolandChecked 18 August 2026

Yes, with paperworkWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Poland is a European Union country, so data may leave as long as you use one of the approved European transfer routes. We found no general Polish rule forcing data to stay in the country. The privacy regulator is fully staffed and busy, and it fines government bodies as well as companies. Finance is the sector to watch: the financial supervisor wants cloud data kept in Europe.
The catch: True in general, much weaker in finance. Banks, insurers, brokers and payment firms follow a supervisory notice telling them to keep cloud data in European data centres, to put critical firms' data inside Poland first where they can, and to warn the financial supervisor 14 days before any cloud project starts. That notice is a strong recommendation, not a ban — but the supervisor checks it. Classified government information sits outside all of this and is effectively locked inside Poland.
Does this apply to me?: Yes, it reaches you with no office in Poland. European privacy law applies to any organisation anywhere that offers goods or services to people in Poland, or that monitors their behaviour. There is no size or revenue threshold. An organisation based outside Europe normally has to name a representative inside Europe. Poland then adds one local step that foreign groups routinely miss: if you must appoint a data protection officer, you have to tell the Polish regulator that person's name and contact details within 14 days of appointing them.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: Yes, with paperwork. Poland has not added a general rule of its own that keeps data inside the country, and European law actually forbids member states from imposing storage-location rules on data that is not about people, except on public-security grounds. We searched for industry walls in banking, payments, insurance, securities, health, telecoms, government cloud, mapping and gambling. The only one we could confirm from an official Polish source is in finance, and it is a firm supervisory recommendation rather than an outright ban.Medium confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: Think of it as an approved-routes list. Personal data may go outside Europe if the destination country has been officially approved, or if you sign the standard European contract with the recipient, or if your corporate group has rules approved by a regulator. The approved-country list is real and populated — roughly sixteen countries plus one international organisation. For the United States it only covers companies that have signed up to a specific certification scheme, so you have to check the recipient, not the country.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Personal Data Protection Office, and it is genuinely working. It is led by Mirosław Wróblewski, it publishes news several times a week, and its public decisions database held 581 decisions when we checked on 18 August 2026, with new ones published through June and July 2026. It fines public bodies too: it penalised the Minister of Justice in June 2026 and a local social welfare centre later the same month. Three other regulators matter — the financial supervisor for banks and insurers, the electronic communications office for telecoms and post, and the Ministry of Digital Affairs for cyber security.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is a ceiling and a floor. The ceiling is European: you may not keep personal data in a form that identifies someone for longer than you need it, and you have to be able to state that period. The floor is Polish: tax, accounting, employment and medical rules force you to keep certain records for years. When the two collide, the specific keeping duty wins for those records and everything else must still be deleted on time. We could not open the official Polish texts for the exact periods on the day we checked, so treat any specific number you read elsewhere as unverified until you see the statute.Medium confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count at least two clocks, often three. For a personal data breach you have 72 hours to tell the Polish privacy regulator, and you must warn the people affected without undue delay if the risk to them is high. Separately, Poland rewrote its cyber security law and the new version started on 3 April 2026; if you are on the new register of key or important organisations you also report to the national cyber teams, on a much shorter first clock. Financial firms add a third set of reporting duties to the financial supervisor. The overlap is what breaks people, because the same incident triggers all three with different content and different deadlines.Medium confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. First, appointing a data protection officer is not the end of it — you have 14 days to file that person's name and contact details with the Polish regulator, and foreign groups miss this constantly. Second, the list of Polish organisations that must appoint one is wider than expected and includes the central bank and state research institutes. Third, a brand-new Polish law on data management started in July 2026 and can fine you about two million złoty, roughly $550,000, for sending protected public-sector data to the wrong country. Fourth, the financial supervisor expects to be told 14 days before a cloud project starts and wants critical firms' data inside Poland where possible. Fifth, being a public body is no shield — the regulator fined the Minister of Justice in June 2026.High confidence
What's about to change?: Three dated things and one live risk. Poland's new cyber security register is being phased in through 2026: self-registration opened on 7 May 2026, and organisations the ministry enters itself get six months from being served notice to complete their details. On 12 January 2027 European rules ban cloud providers from charging you anything to move your data out. On 2 April 2027 a new European regulation on how privacy regulators run cross-border cases starts to apply, which will change how Polish complaints against foreign companies are handled. The live risk is the European Union–United States data transfer arrangement, which is valid today but being challenged.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: None found.

SlovakiaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Slovakia has no general rule that data must stay in the country. It runs on the European rulebook: send data abroad once you have the right paperwork. Three areas break that rule. Online gambling servers must sit on Slovak soil. The most sensitive government data must stay in a Slovak data centre. And anyone who takes aerial survey pictures of Slovakia must hand a copy to a defence ministry archive.
The catch: The easy answer stops being true in three places. First, online gambling: the operator's server must be physically in Slovakia, with no European Economic Area alternative. Second, government cloud: a public body handling the top security category of data may only use a service that stores and processes it inside Slovakia, in a data centre within reach of the Slovak state. Third, mapping: primary aerial survey imagery and published maps must be deposited with Slovak state archives, including one run by the Ministry of Defence. Banking, payments, insurance, securities, health and telecoms have no storage-location rule that we could find.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. A company with no office in Slovakia is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Slovakia, or watches what they do online. There is no minimum size, headcount or revenue below which you are safe. If you have no office anywhere in the European Union, you must name a written representative inside the Union, and you can put that person in any member state where your customers are — it does not have to be Slovakia.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general, yes — with the standard European paperwork. Nothing in Slovak law says personal data must be kept in Slovakia, and the law says so almost in as many words: it applies to a Slovak company whether it processes data inside or outside the country. But three specific activities do force data to stay. Online gambling operators must put their server in Slovakia. The top security tier of government data must stay in a Slovak data centre. And aerial survey imagery of Slovakia must be handed to a state archive.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: Slovakia uses the European model, and it is an allowlist. Data may go to a country the European Commission has approved, or to anywhere else if you sign the Commission's standard contract, use approved group-wide rules, or fit one of a few narrow exceptions. The approved list is real and populated — it includes the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Canada for commercial bodies, and the United States only for companies signed up to the transatlantic framework. Slovakia adds nothing of its own on top.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic. It is real, staffed and busy. In 2025 it issued 542 final fines totalling about 468,000 euros (roughly $510,000) and actually collected about 411,000 euros of that — a very high number of fines but a very small average, about 860 euros each. It has around 60 staff and got 20 extra posts in 2025. Cybersecurity incidents go to a separate body, the National Security Authority.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: There is no single retention rule. The general privacy rule is to delete when you no longer need the data. Against that sit long minimum-keeping duties: ten years for accounts and financial statements, and up to one hundred years after death for entries in the national health registers. Telecom companies keep far less than most people assume — Slovakia scrapped blanket call-record retention after its Constitutional Court struck it down, so operators only retain what a court order covers.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: There are two clocks and they are different. A personal data breach goes to the privacy authority within 72 hours of you becoming aware of it, and to the affected people without undue delay if the risk to them is high. A cybersecurity incident at a regulated organisation goes to the National Security Authority twice: a first warning within 24 hours, then a fuller report within 72 hours. If you are both, you file both, to two different bodies.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that are not in the summary. Public bodies can be fined the full amount, with no discount. Mishandling personal data you got through your job is a crime, not just a fine. The age of consent for online services is 16, not 13. The rule on dead people's data changed today. And the gambling server rule has no European workaround.High confidence
What's about to change?: The whole national privacy law is being replaced by two new laws — one general, one for police and courts — but they are still bills and have no legal effect. Act 18/2018 was amended today, 18 August 2026, mostly to remove dead people from its scope. Public bodies face a bigger data-registration duty from 1 January 2027, and all cloud switching and data export fees across Europe must drop to zero by 12 January 2027.High confidence
Hardest industry wall: Online gaming — Zákon č. 30/2019 Z. z. o hazardných hrách a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov, § 14 ods. 21 a 22
Government — Metodické usmernenie č. 020775/2025/oSBATA z 11. 4. 2025 pre proces zaradenia cloudovej služby do katalógu vládnych cloudových služieb, vydané podľa § 24a zákona č. 95/2019 Z. z.
Mapping and location — Zákon Národnej rady Slovenskej republiky č. 215/1995 Z. z. o geodézii a kartografii

The eight framework questions answered for each selected country
Question	PolandChecked 18 August 2026	SlovakiaChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Yes, with paperwork Work: High Enforcement: Active	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Active
In one paragraph	Poland is a European Union country, so data may leave as long as you use one of the approved European transfer routes. We found no general Polish rule forcing data to stay in the country. The privacy regulator is fully staffed and busy, and it fines government bodies as well as companies. Finance is the sector to watch: the financial supervisor wants cloud data kept in Europe.	Slovakia has no general rule that data must stay in the country. It runs on the European rulebook: send data abroad once you have the right paperwork. Three areas break that rule. Online gambling servers must sit on Slovak soil. The most sensitive government data must stay in a Slovak data centre. And anyone who takes aerial survey pictures of Slovakia must hand a copy to a defence ministry archive.
The catch	True in general, much weaker in finance. Banks, insurers, brokers and payment firms follow a supervisory notice telling them to keep cloud data in European data centres, to put critical firms' data inside Poland first where they can, and to warn the financial supervisor 14 days before any cloud project starts. That notice is a strong recommendation, not a ban — but the supervisor checks it. Classified government information sits outside all of this and is effectively locked inside Poland.	The easy answer stops being true in three places. First, online gambling: the operator's server must be physically in Slovakia, with no European Economic Area alternative. Second, government cloud: a public body handling the top security category of data may only use a service that stores and processes it inside Slovakia, in a data centre within reach of the Slovak state. Third, mapping: primary aerial survey imagery and published maps must be deposited with Slovak state archives, including one run by the Ministry of Defence. Banking, payments, insurance, securities, health and telecoms have no storage-location rule that we could find.
Does this apply to me?	Yes, it reaches you with no office in Poland. European privacy law applies to any organisation anywhere that offers goods or services to people in Poland, or that monitors their behaviour. There is no size or revenue threshold. An organisation based outside Europe normally has to name a representative inside Europe. Poland then adds one local step that foreign groups routinely miss: if you must appoint a data protection officer, you have to tell the Polish regulator that person's name and contact details within 14 days of appointing them.High confidence	Yes. A company with no office in Slovakia is still caught if it offers goods or services to people in Slovakia, or watches what they do online. There is no minimum size, headcount or revenue below which you are safe. If you have no office anywhere in the European Union, you must name a written representative inside the Union, and you can put that person in any member state where your customers are — it does not have to be Slovakia.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?	Yes, with paperwork. Poland has not added a general rule of its own that keeps data inside the country, and European law actually forbids member states from imposing storage-location rules on data that is not about people, except on public-security grounds. We searched for industry walls in banking, payments, insurance, securities, health, telecoms, government cloud, mapping and gambling. The only one we could confirm from an official Polish source is in finance, and it is a firm supervisory recommendation rather than an outright ban.Medium confidence	In general, yes — with the standard European paperwork. Nothing in Slovak law says personal data must be kept in Slovakia, and the law says so almost in as many words: it applies to a Slovak company whether it processes data inside or outside the country. But three specific activities do force data to stay. Online gambling operators must put their server in Slovakia. The top security tier of government data must stay in a Slovak data centre. And aerial survey imagery of Slovakia must be handed to a state archive.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?	Think of it as an approved-routes list. Personal data may go outside Europe if the destination country has been officially approved, or if you sign the standard European contract with the recipient, or if your corporate group has rules approved by a regulator. The approved-country list is real and populated — roughly sixteen countries plus one international organisation. For the United States it only covers companies that have signed up to a specific certification scheme, so you have to check the recipient, not the country.High confidence	Slovakia uses the European model, and it is an allowlist. Data may go to a country the European Commission has approved, or to anywhere else if you sign the Commission's standard contract, use approved group-wide rules, or fit one of a few narrow exceptions. The approved list is real and populated — it includes the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Canada for commercial bodies, and the United States only for companies signed up to the transatlantic framework. Slovakia adds nothing of its own on top.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?	The Personal Data Protection Office, and it is genuinely working. It is led by Mirosław Wróblewski, it publishes news several times a week, and its public decisions database held 581 decisions when we checked on 18 August 2026, with new ones published through June and July 2026. It fines public bodies too: it penalised the Minister of Justice in June 2026 and a local social welfare centre later the same month. Three other regulators matter — the financial supervisor for banks and insurers, the electronic communications office for telecoms and post, and the Ministry of Digital Affairs for cyber security.High confidence	The Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic. It is real, staffed and busy. In 2025 it issued 542 final fines totalling about 468,000 euros (roughly $510,000) and actually collected about 411,000 euros of that — a very high number of fines but a very small average, about 860 euros each. It has around 60 staff and got 20 extra posts in 2025. Cybersecurity incidents go to a separate body, the National Security Authority.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?	There is a ceiling and a floor. The ceiling is European: you may not keep personal data in a form that identifies someone for longer than you need it, and you have to be able to state that period. The floor is Polish: tax, accounting, employment and medical rules force you to keep certain records for years. When the two collide, the specific keeping duty wins for those records and everything else must still be deleted on time. We could not open the official Polish texts for the exact periods on the day we checked, so treat any specific number you read elsewhere as unverified until you see the statute.Medium confidence	There is no single retention rule. The general privacy rule is to delete when you no longer need the data. Against that sit long minimum-keeping duties: ten years for accounts and financial statements, and up to one hundred years after death for entries in the national health registers. Telecom companies keep far less than most people assume — Slovakia scrapped blanket call-record retention after its Constitutional Court struck it down, so operators only retain what a court order covers.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?	Count at least two clocks, often three. For a personal data breach you have 72 hours to tell the Polish privacy regulator, and you must warn the people affected without undue delay if the risk to them is high. Separately, Poland rewrote its cyber security law and the new version started on 3 April 2026; if you are on the new register of key or important organisations you also report to the national cyber teams, on a much shorter first clock. Financial firms add a third set of reporting duties to the financial supervisor. The overlap is what breaks people, because the same incident triggers all three with different content and different deadlines.Medium confidence	There are two clocks and they are different. A personal data breach goes to the privacy authority within 72 hours of you becoming aware of it, and to the affected people without undue delay if the risk to them is high. A cybersecurity incident at a regulated organisation goes to the National Security Authority twice: a first warning within 24 hours, then a fuller report within 72 hours. If you are both, you file both, to two different bodies.High confidence
What's the trap?	Five things that are not in the summary. First, appointing a data protection officer is not the end of it — you have 14 days to file that person's name and contact details with the Polish regulator, and foreign groups miss this constantly. Second, the list of Polish organisations that must appoint one is wider than expected and includes the central bank and state research institutes. Third, a brand-new Polish law on data management started in July 2026 and can fine you about two million złoty, roughly $550,000, for sending protected public-sector data to the wrong country. Fourth, the financial supervisor expects to be told 14 days before a cloud project starts and wants critical firms' data inside Poland where possible. Fifth, being a public body is no shield — the regulator fined the Minister of Justice in June 2026.High confidence	Five things that are not in the summary. Public bodies can be fined the full amount, with no discount. Mishandling personal data you got through your job is a crime, not just a fine. The age of consent for online services is 16, not 13. The rule on dead people's data changed today. And the gambling server rule has no European workaround.High confidence
What's about to change?	Three dated things and one live risk. Poland's new cyber security register is being phased in through 2026: self-registration opened on 7 May 2026, and organisations the ministry enters itself get six months from being served notice to complete their details. On 12 January 2027 European rules ban cloud providers from charging you anything to move your data out. On 2 April 2027 a new European regulation on how privacy regulators run cross-border cases starts to apply, which will change how Polish complaints against foreign companies are handled. The live risk is the European Union–United States data transfer arrangement, which is valid today but being challenged.High confidence	The whole national privacy law is being replaced by two new laws — one general, one for police and courts — but they are still bills and have no legal effect. Act 18/2018 was amended today, 18 August 2026, mostly to remove dead people from its scope. Public bodies face a bigger data-registration duty from 1 January 2027, and all cloud switching and data export fees across Europe must drop to zero by 12 January 2027.High confidence
Hardest industry wall	None found.	Online gaming — Zákon č. 30/2019 Z. z. o hazardných hrách a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov, § 14 ods. 21 a 22 Government — Metodické usmernenie č. 020775/2025/oSBATA z 11. 4. 2025 pre proces zaradenia cloudovej služby do katalógu vládnych cloudových služieb, vydané podľa § 24a zákona č. 95/2019 Z. z. Mapping and location — Zákon Národnej rady Slovenskej republiky č. 215/1995 Z. z. o geodézii a kartografii