The Middle East is no longer just a land known for its oil resources but a beacon of innovation and digital transformation. The internet penetration rate in most Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, is around 100%, indicating a strong commitment to building a digital economy.
As a result, the region’s data privacy landscape is evolving rapidly, fueled by government directives to impose strict data privacy laws to safeguard personal data and ensure compliance. While the legal reforms across the region mirror some principles of the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), they aren’t just a copy-paste framework, incorporating the cultural and socio-economic elements of the region.
This article explains the data and user privacy laws in different GCC nations and why businesses in the region should not treat it only as a legal necessity but also as a non-negotiable asset to gain a competitive edge.
Regulatory environment across the Middle East
Digital technological advancements, coupled with the government’s vision across various GCC nations, have paved the way for structured and tighter data protection laws.
Here’s a quick rundown of the data protection principles, predominately inspired by GDPR, adopted by different countries in the Middle East.
UAE
The UAE introduced the Protection of Personal Data (PDPL) in 2022 – a set of guidelines and a structured framework for data controllers and processors on how personal data can be collected, processed, and used.
PDPL governs the primary stakeholders involved in the data processing cycle, including the data subject (person who is sharing personal data), the Data controller (entity requesting and collecting personal data), and the Data processor (entity that processes the data when instructed by the data controller). These align with the core principles of GDPR, laying a solid foundation for an accountable personal data framework.
The PDPL lays down clear instructions on how businesses can collect personal data and also includes other obligations for companies that collect information from people. It also includes a provision for data subjects, which allows them to modify inaccurate data and request data processors to stop processing their data.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is taking significant leaps toward empowering its digital economy via proactive regulatory initiatives under the Vision 2030. Like most GCC countries, KSA’s PDPL laws are predominantly applicable to data collectors, processors, and subjects within the KSA.
The law mandates data collectors to obtain consent from data subjects, inform them of the legal basis, and the purpose of collecting data.
Bahrain
Bahrain, like other GCC countries, introduced its PDPL in August 2019 for businesses that gather personal information. It applies to all the citizens of Bahrain and foreign nationals working and residing in Bahrain.
The law will also oversee how businesses can collect and use personal data and whether it is fairly processed. Additionally, it mandates businesses to inform data owners whenever their data is collected and how they can exercise data rights directly with the respective business.
It is worth noting that in Bahrain, data collectors are referred to as data managers, and every data manager should mention the names of third parties with whom they share personal data.
Qatar
Qatar became the first country in the Middle East to introduce a data protection law when it rolled out the Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (PDPPL) in 2017. The law mandates that businesses that collect sensitive personal information adhere to the transparency, human dignity, and fairness guidelines.
Like other privacy laws mentioned previously, Qatar’s PDPPL primarily applies to personal data that is processed electronically or is processed using a mix of traditional and electronic processing techniques.
Why are data privacy or user privacy laws so important in the Middle East?
Although user privacy laws were almost non-existent across the Middle East over a decade ago, things have rapidly changed.
So, why are governments across the Middle East stepping up and introducing privacy laws?
Let’s find out.
The significant emphasis on building digital economies has compelled governments across the Middle East to transform their legal frameworks around user data privacy.
Apart from creating a robust legal ecosystem to safeguard user data, these laws also play a key role in attracting foreign investments and engaging in cross-border data exchanges without legal hassles.
Businesses have recognized that data laws aren’t just for compliance and ticking boxes in the compliance checklists, but an obvious way to gain user trust. It is also worth noting that a majority of the countries in the Middle East have 100% internet penetration, so users are mindful about how their data is being used. Non-compliance can dent brand image and harm consumer trust, resulting in poor retention and revenue losses.
Apart from reputational damage, data breaches or violations of user privacy laws can lead to economic implications varying from loss of business opportunities to high regulatory fines. For example, businesses could pay anything between AED 50,000 to AED 5 million, depending on the nature of the breach.
Strict laws around data privacy encourage discipline, ensuring businesses collect, manage, and share personal data by creating transparent internal processes. This framework enables businesses to minimise their chances of being prone to cyberattacks and other security risks.
Important legal concepts businesses in the Middle East must know to avoid user privacy violations
We have already seen how governments in the Middle East are leaving no stone unturned to implement robust legal frameworks around data privacy, and this trend is expected to continue as digitalization takes center stage.
Therefore, businesses must understand the basic legal concepts and principles of these recently introduced laws that largely originated when the EU rolled out the GDPR principles, setting a benchmark for other governments worldwide.
Data minimization
Data minimization largely means businesses must only collect personal data that is ‘absolutely’ required. Over the past few years, the Middle East has become a base for thousands of healthcare and financial technology startups, so it is crucial to limit data collection to minimize risk and build user trust.
For instance, the UX team of a ride-hailing app in the Middle East should ensure that the user journey is designed in a way that users only need to submit useful and relevant information. In this case, the necessary details required to facilitate a seamless booking experience include the user name, location, and contact number. However, if the users are required to enter their passport number, local address, etc, the business is violating the data minimization principle.
Consent
Consent is one of the most important and crucial principles of the user privacy laws in the Middle East and worldwide. This means that businesses must obtain consent from users at the time of collecting data and inform them how they are going to process it. Failure to do so can lead to reputational and financial damage.
Let’s take a look at how Al Jazeera seeks approval from its users. The company, in the cookie consent banner, clearly states that it uses tracking technologies to deliver personalized content to its users and measure the website’s performance. Besides the message, there is an “Allow all” button, seeking permission from users to use cookies.
Right to access
Right to access provides all individuals the right to understand what personal information, including their own, is held by a specific organization. This step is crucial to improve the rights of every individual who shares personal data and create a democratic digital ecosystem to minimize corruption.
For instance, an individual living in Bahrain can request a Fintech company in the country to submit a detailed report, which includes all the personal data stored and how it is going to be processed.
Right to rectification
We all make mistakes, don’t we? The right to rectification enables individuals to correct wrongly submitted or incomplete personal data – a key measure to ensure data accuracy in the rapidly digitizing healthcare, financial, and government landscape.
Data breach notifications
Businesses are obligated to notify all the affected users and regulators in case of a data breach within a defined time frame. Again, this measure is inspired by GDPR and vital to safeguard the Middle East’s increasingly data-driven economy.
What can businesses do to strengthen user privacy and data compliance?
As businesses across the Middle East continue to embrace new technologies and transform their operations, instances of privacy violations and data breaches are becoming increasingly common.
Here’s how businesses can draw inspiration from GDPR and strengthen user privacy.
Privacy by design
Since most businesses are now engaging with individuals digitally, privacy by design should become a staple component of user interfaces. UX designers and product teams must focus on digital transformation by keeping user privacy at the heart of the design and development process, instead of focusing on it at later stages in the product development cycle. Remember, prevention is always better than a cure, so it is best to embrace ethical design practices before your business runs into legal and financial trouble.
UI/UX teams must realize that privacy controls and related disclaimers cannot take the back seat anymore and hide behind text-heavy pages. For example, consent banners and privacy settings should be thoughtfully designed, minimizing friction and helping users take control of their privacy settings.
You can also check out some of the most relevant and emerging UX design trends to create an effective design strategy.
Evaluate existing data privacy practices
Businesses can only improve their data and user privacy protocols once they assess their existing practices and whether they fulfil the requirements of the regional data protection laws. Businesses must prioritize data protection impact assessments for existing and new projects to prevent non-compliance and reputational and financial damage.
Privacy policies
While governments continue to push for data transparency by introducing data protection and privacy laws, businesses can no longer rely on outdated internal data privacy policies. The need of the hour is to implement a data governance framework that not only adheres to the existing regulations but is also flexible enough to adapt with the evolving regulations.
The privacy policies of every business should be clearly outlined, stating how, where, and the purpose of collecting, storing, and processing user data.
In this example, you can see how Talabat’s privacy statement addresses all the aforementioned points. The statement dives deep into the details of each policy, ensuring transparency.
Embrace technology
The advent and evolution of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, will allow businesses to seamlessly automate data privacy policies today and in the future.
These cutting-edge technologies will play a crucial role to think beyond traditional compliance methods and deal with large volumes of data in real time, highlighting potential data privacy risks and violations.
What lies ahead?
At present, digital penetration across the Middle East is at par with some of the leading nations in North America and Europe. This has created fertile grounds for businesses to innovate and step up their efforts toward building a secure digital ecosystem. With data at the centre of progress, businesses can no longer give user privacy a secondary preference.
Although governments across the region continue to introduce new regulations, businesses must adapt swiftly and adopt ethical practices to ensure compliance and secure user data.
While the privacy laws across the Middle East mirror a majority of GDPR principles, we are also likely to see regional laws that cater to the unique requirements of each Middle Eastern country in the future.
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