Ask HN: Laws regarding data collection (in various countries)

Hello HN,

I wonder what laws are around data collection for users in various countries. I hope this post can serve as a compendium for such laws so website designers can keep them in mind.

Some specific questions for each country:

1) If the website operates from another country, is that explicitly bound to follow your country's laws?

2) Does the law of your country require a website operating from your country to collect:

2a) User data of visitors? User data can be ip, time of visit, page visited etc.

2b) User data of content contributors? Content could be posts/comments. User data could be relating those posts with ip/time of addition etc.