Anthropic Makes Hong Kong Restrictions Explicit in Claude Policy Taking Effect November 12, 2026

Hong Kong Staff of Overseas Companies Are Covered

Anthropic's updated rules for access to Claude take effect on November 12, 2026, explicitly covering people working in Hong Kong even when their employer is based in a supported country. The restrictions also extend to certain companies outside Hong Kong because of where they are incorporated, headquartered, owned or controlled.

Hong Kong, mainland China and Macau are absent from the company's list of supported locations. Taiwan, Singapore and Japan are included. The policy covers Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cowork, the application programming interface (API) and developer platform, as well as Claude models supplied through cloud platforms and authorized resellers.

Anthropic's Supported Regions Policy sets out three separate grounds for restricting access: a person's physical location, an organization's place of incorporation or headquarters, and its ownership or control. For businesses with staff and corporate structures spread across several countries, each can affect eligibility.

Anthropic describes the revised wording as a clarification of existing restrictions. Hong Kong was already outside the supported list; November 12 is the effective date of the revised text.

Physical Location Matters, Even With an Overseas Employer

A person using Claude while physically in Hong Kong falls within the policy's restrictions, including someone employed by a company in an otherwise supported location. An overseas employer's account does not remove the location requirement for its staff.

Anthropic, the company behind Claude, states the physical location rule in its policy:

Use by persons while physically located in an unsupported region, including users and personnel of otherwise supported entities.

For example, an employee working from Hong Kong for a company headquartered in Singapore is covered by this restriction. Singapore appears on the supported list, but the employee's actual location remains a separate condition. This matters for businesses that assign the same software tools to staff across regional offices.

A Company's Registration and Headquarters Also Count

Companies incorporated or headquartered in an unsupported region face a broader restriction. The policy covers those entities and their users or personnel even when the individuals are physically in a supported location.

A Hong Kong company therefore cannot resolve the company eligibility issue simply by having an employee access Claude from Japan. Japan is supported, but the company's Hong Kong incorporation or headquarters remains relevant under the second rule. Similarly, incorporating a company in a supported country would leave an unsupported headquarters as a separate reason for exclusion.

Ownership and control form the third category. Anthropic restricts entities that are majority owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by people or entities in unsupported regions. Their users and personnel are also covered, regardless of whether those individuals are in supported locations.

Indirect ownership means the connection can run through other companies. A business may have an immediate parent in one country and an ultimate owner in another. Under the policy's wording, a company assessing eligibility needs to consider that chain, alongside who controls it, rather than checking only its own registered address.

Cloud Platforms and Resellers Are Included

Anthropic explicitly includes Claude models offered through cloud platforms and authorized resellers. Businesses buying access through another supplier therefore face the same stated regional scope as businesses using Anthropic's own products.

The API is the connection that lets another piece of software send a request to Claude and receive a response. A company might use it to support an internal assistant or automate part of a workflow. Those uses sit within the policy alongside employees interacting directly with Claude.ai or working with Claude Code.

For a Hong Kong business, the practical review therefore extends beyond individual subscriptions. It also includes applications that call Claude through a cloud service, development tools used by staff, and arrangements made through authorized resellers.

A purchasing team needs to consider both the product being used and the people and entities using it. Changing the supplier through which Claude is purchased leaves the policy's location, incorporation, headquarters, ownership and control conditions in place.

What Changes on November 12?

Anthropic's 2026 Usage Policy update explains the regional revision as a clarification of how it applies its rules. The company says it had already updated restrictions the previous year for companies majority owned by entities headquartered in unsupported regions.

Anthropic describes that earlier change and the purpose of the revised wording:

Last year, we updated our Supported Regions Policy to restrict access to Claude for companies who are majority-owned by entities headquartered in our unsupported regions. We've updated our Supported Regions page to clarify how we enforce this policy.

The sequence separates the earlier ownership restriction, the announcement of clearer wording and the date that wording takes effect:

• 2025: Anthropic says it updated restrictions covering companies majority owned by entities headquartered in unsupported regions.
• October 8, 2026: Anthropic announced the policy update, describing most revisions as clarifications of existing rules.
• November 12, 2026: The revised Supported Regions Policy takes effect.

For Hong Kong users, the central development is the explicit description of who falls within the restrictions. The text spells out how an unsupported location affects an employee of an overseas company and how an unsupported company affects personnel working abroad.

The Supported List Has Specific Geographic Boundaries

Taiwan, Singapore and Japan appear on Anthropic's supported list, along with other Asian markets including South Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Hong Kong, mainland China and Macau are absent. The policy says any country or region not listed is unsupported.

Anthropic also states that territories and dependencies of a listed country are supported, giving Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, as its example. That provision is part of the same policy that defines the geographic limits of access.

Ukraine has an explicit exception. The country is supported except for Crimea and the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. This makes the detailed wording of an entry relevant alongside the presence of a country name on the list.

The current policy sets out its scope and restrictions as follows:

Anthropic's products and services — including our apps (such as Claude.ai, Claude Code, and Cowork), our API and developer platform, and Claude models offered through cloud platforms and authorized resellers — are available only in the countries and regions listed below. Territories and dependencies of a listed country are also supported (for example, Puerto Rico as a territory of the United States).

Any country or region not listed is unsupported. This includes:

• Use by persons while physically located in an unsupported region, including users and personnel of otherwise supported entities.
• Use by entities incorporated or headquartered in an unsupported region and their users or personnel, regardless of whether such individuals are physically located in a supported region.
• Use by entities that are majority-owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by persons or entities in unsupported regions, including use by their users or personnel, regardless of whether such individuals are physically located in a supported region.

The complete list of countries and regions where Anthropic currently offers access to its products and services is:

• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Angola
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belgium
• Belize
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brazil
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cabo Verde
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Chile
• Colombia
• Comoros
• Congo (Brazzaville)
• Congo, Democratic Republic of (DRC)
• Costa Rica
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czechia (Czech Republic)
• Denmark
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Estonia
• Eswatini
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Georgia
• Germany
• Ghana
• Greece
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Iraq
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mali
• Malta
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nauru
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Nigeria
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palau
• Palestine
• Panama
• Papua New Guinea
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Romania
• Rwanda
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Samoa
• San Marino
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Somalia
• Solomon Islands
• South Africa
• South Korea
• South Sudan
• Spain
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Suriname
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste
• Togo
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tunisia
• Türkiye (Turkey)
• Turkmenistan
• Tuvalu
• Uganda
• Ukraine (except Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions)
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• Uruguay
• Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu
• Vatican City
• Vietnam
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

For a regional business, checking the list is therefore only the first step. A supported office location must be considered together with the rules covering its staff, corporate registration, headquarters and ownership.

What Hong Kong Businesses Need to Check

A company using Claude Code for software development or Claude through an internal application needs to identify where its users actually work. An account administered from a supported country can still have personnel in Hong Kong covered by the physical location restriction.

Corporate teams also need to establish which entity uses the service, where that entity is incorporated and headquartered, and whether its ownership or control connects it to an unsupported region. A shared brand name across several offices may conceal different legal entities and ownership arrangements.

Procurement records can help identify whether access comes directly from Anthropic, through a cloud platform or through an authorized reseller. The policy expressly covers all three routes. Questions about an individual contract or service arrangement need to be addressed with the relevant supplier.

The public policy gives no specific treatment for short visits to Hong Kong, no VPN exception, and no timetable for whether Hong Kong accounts would lose login access together on November 12. A VPN routes an internet connection through another server; the eligibility rule is written around the person's physical location. Account access and contractual arrangements therefore need checking alongside the geographic rules.

The Wider Update Covers How Claude Is Used

Anthropic announced the geographic clarification alongside revisions dealing with deceptive campaigns, elections, weapons, surveillance, decisions affecting people's lives and autonomous equipment. Geography determines who can use the service; the Usage Policy sets conditions on what users can do with it.

The company has brought restrictions on deceptive activity into a dedicated section covering political and commercial campaigns, including networks of fake accounts and fabricated news sites. Its elections section focuses on deceiving voters or disrupting elections. Anthropic also says it removed a blanket prohibition on personalized voting and campaign targeting, while retaining restrictions on deception and misuse of personal data.

Other revisions spell out restrictions on software and components that make weapons work, tracking people without consent, and using Claude to decide or recommend whom law enforcement should investigate, arrest or charge. For recommendations affecting health, legal rights, finances, livelihoods or essential services, Anthropic says qualified human review and disclosure that AI was used remain requirements.

Equipment connected to Claude that acts autonomously and could cause injury must have a qualified operator able to observe and stop it, and must be able to hold a safe state if Claude disconnects. These changes explain the breadth of the November update, while the regional provisions directly address eligibility for Hong Kong users.

Key Points

• Anthropic's revised Supported Regions Policy takes effect on November 12, 2026.
• Hong Kong, mainland China and Macau are outside the supported list; Taiwan, Singapore and Japan are included.
• People physically in Hong Kong are covered by the restrictions even when employed by a company in a supported country.
• Company incorporation, headquarters, ownership and control can restrict access for personnel working elsewhere.
• The policy covers Claude applications, the API, developer tools, cloud platforms and authorized resellers.
• Anthropic describes the regional revision as a clarification of existing enforcement.