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Countries

SloveniaChecked 18 August 2026

Depends on your industryWork: HighEnforcement: Active

In one paragraph: Slovenia 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 things break that. The company running the new national health record system may not store data outside Slovenia. Government bodies may cloud only their least sensitive data. And working-time records must sit at the Slovenian workplace.
The catch: The easy answer stops being true in four places. First, health: the state-owned company running the central health information system is forbidden by law from transferring or storing personal data outside Slovenian territory, and every healthcare provider in the country must plug into that system. Second, government: a state administration body may only use a public cloud for the lowest security tiers of information, and only after the ministry approves in writing. Third, employment: the record of working time and the documents behind it must be kept at the employer's registered office or at the place where the worker actually works. Fourth, gambling: only a joint-stock company registered in Slovenia can hold a concession, and its system must be wired into the tax authority's own system. Banking, payments, insurance, securities, telecoms and mapping have no storage-location rule that we could find.
Does this apply to me?: Yes. Slovenia's privacy rules reach a company with no office there. If you offer goods or services to people in Slovenia, or watch what they do online, the European rules apply to you and Slovenia's own privacy act applies alongside them. There is no size or revenue threshold that lets you out. A company with no office anywhere in Europe must appoint a written representative inside Europe.High confidence
Can the data leave the country?: In general yes, with paperwork — Slovenia adds no national storage-location rule of its own on top of the European regime. But four industries break that answer, and one of them is a hard wall. Health is the big one: the state company that runs Slovenia's central health record system is banned outright from storing or sending personal data outside Slovenia, and every healthcare provider must connect to that system. Government cloud, employment records and gambling each carry their own restriction.High confidence
What do I have to do to send it abroad?: Slovenia uses the European model, and it works like an approved-destinations list with escape hatches. Data may go to a country the European Commission has approved. If the destination is not approved, you can still send data by signing the Commission's standard contract, using approved group-wide rules, or relying on one of a few narrow exceptions. Slovenia adds nothing of its own. The old Slovenian system, where the Information Commissioner had to authorise each export, was scrapped when the current privacy act arrived in January 2023.High confidence
Who enforces this — and are they actually working?: The Information Commissioner, and it is genuinely working. In 2025 it opened 464 inspection cases from complaints plus 102 more from inspection reports, issued 134 enforcement decisions, fined in 89 of them, gave warnings in 45, and handed down what it calls its largest fine since the European rules began. It handled 153 breach reports. It is small: one commissioner and 53 staff at the end of 2025, and it says openly that it does not have enough people. Cybersecurity is enforced separately by a government office set up for the job.High confidence
How long must I keep it, and when must I delete it?: Both directions, and the floors are long. A patient's medical file must be kept for ten years after the patient dies, and other basic medical records for fifteen years. Records of who touched personal data in a computer system must be kept for two years after the end of the year, and up to five if the risk is high. Working-time records must be kept at the Slovenian workplace. In the other direction the European rule applies: delete personal data once the purpose is spent.High confidence
What happens when something goes wrong?: Count three clocks, not one. A personal data breach goes to the Information Commissioner within 72 hours. A serious cyber incident, if you are an essential or important organisation, goes to the government security office immediately and in any case within 24 hours as an early warning, then a full report within 72 hours, then a final report within one month. Telecoms operators have their own duties on top. Missing the 24-hour warning is the most common failure, because it lands while you are still working out what happened.High confidence
What's the trap?: Five things that catch people out. A child can consent at 15 in Slovenia, not 16 — one year younger than the European default. Fingerprints and face scans are banned in the private sector unless a law allows them and the Commissioner approves. Every access to a covered database must be logged and the log kept two years. Leaking personal data you got through your job is a crime, not just a fine. And working-time records must physically be at the Slovenian workplace, which no cloud contract fixes.High confidence
What's about to change?: Two dates in the next twelve months matter most. On 19 December 2026 the cybersecurity duties bite for organisations newly captured by Slovenia's 2025 Information Security Act — registration, security measures and the incident clocks. On 12 January 2027 the European Data Act bans all cloud switching and data export fees. Behind both sits the roll-out of the national health record system, whose ban on storing data outside Slovenia is already law but whose timetable we could not pin down.Medium confidence
Hardest industry wall: Health and social care — Zakon o digitalizaciji zdravstva (ZDigZ)
All industries — Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o evidencah na področju dela in socialne varnosti (ZEPDSV-A)

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	SloveniaChecked 18 August 2026	CanadaChecked 18 August 2026
The three ratings	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Active	Depends on your industry Work: High Enforcement: Active
In one paragraph	Slovenia 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 things break that. The company running the new national health record system may not store data outside Slovenia. Government bodies may cloud only their least sensitive data. And working-time records must sit at the Slovenian workplace.	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 four places. First, health: the state-owned company running the central health information system is forbidden by law from transferring or storing personal data outside Slovenian territory, and every healthcare provider in the country must plug into that system. Second, government: a state administration body may only use a public cloud for the lowest security tiers of information, and only after the ministry approves in writing. Third, employment: the record of working time and the documents behind it must be kept at the employer's registered office or at the place where the worker actually works. Fourth, gambling: only a joint-stock company registered in Slovenia can hold a concession, and its system must be wired into the tax authority's own system. Banking, payments, insurance, securities, telecoms and mapping have no storage-location rule that we could find.	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. Slovenia's privacy rules reach a company with no office there. If you offer goods or services to people in Slovenia, or watch what they do online, the European rules apply to you and Slovenia's own privacy act applies alongside them. There is no size or revenue threshold that lets you out. A company with no office anywhere in Europe must appoint a written representative inside 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, with paperwork — Slovenia adds no national storage-location rule of its own on top of the European regime. But four industries break that answer, and one of them is a hard wall. Health is the big one: the state company that runs Slovenia's central health record system is banned outright from storing or sending personal data outside Slovenia, and every healthcare provider must connect to that system. Government cloud, employment records and gambling each carry their own restriction.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?	Slovenia uses the European model, and it works like an approved-destinations list with escape hatches. Data may go to a country the European Commission has approved. If the destination is not approved, you can still send data by signing the Commission's standard contract, using approved group-wide rules, or relying on one of a few narrow exceptions. Slovenia adds nothing of its own. The old Slovenian system, where the Information Commissioner had to authorise each export, was scrapped when the current privacy act arrived in January 2023.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 Commissioner, and it is genuinely working. In 2025 it opened 464 inspection cases from complaints plus 102 more from inspection reports, issued 134 enforcement decisions, fined in 89 of them, gave warnings in 45, and handed down what it calls its largest fine since the European rules began. It handled 153 breach reports. It is small: one commissioner and 53 staff at the end of 2025, and it says openly that it does not have enough people. Cybersecurity is enforced separately by a government office set up for the job.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?	Both directions, and the floors are long. A patient's medical file must be kept for ten years after the patient dies, and other basic medical records for fifteen years. Records of who touched personal data in a computer system must be kept for two years after the end of the year, and up to five if the risk is high. Working-time records must be kept at the Slovenian workplace. In the other direction the European rule applies: delete personal data once the purpose is spent.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, not one. A personal data breach goes to the Information Commissioner within 72 hours. A serious cyber incident, if you are an essential or important organisation, goes to the government security office immediately and in any case within 24 hours as an early warning, then a full report within 72 hours, then a final report within one month. Telecoms operators have their own duties on top. Missing the 24-hour warning is the most common failure, because it lands while you are still working out what happened.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 catch people out. A child can consent at 15 in Slovenia, not 16 — one year younger than the European default. Fingerprints and face scans are banned in the private sector unless a law allows them and the Commissioner approves. Every access to a covered database must be logged and the log kept two years. Leaking personal data you got through your job is a crime, not just a fine. And working-time records must physically be at the Slovenian workplace, which no cloud contract fixes.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?	Two dates in the next twelve months matter most. On 19 December 2026 the cybersecurity duties bite for organisations newly captured by Slovenia's 2025 Information Security Act — registration, security measures and the incident clocks. On 12 January 2027 the European Data Act bans all cloud switching and data export fees. Behind both sits the roll-out of the national health record system, whose ban on storing data outside Slovenia is already law but whose timetable we could not pin down.Medium 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	Health and social care — Zakon o digitalizaciji zdravstva (ZDigZ) All industries — Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o evidencah na področju dela in socialne varnosti (ZEPDSV-A)	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)