INFORMATION PROTECTION ALERT: UAE New Data Protection Law

INFORMATION PROTECTION ALERT

UAE NEW DATA PROTECTION LAW

by Luthando Nondaba

Dear employer

To align itself with international practices on the protection of individual privacy and personal data, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has issued legislation to regulate the collection and processing of personal data in the country.

The Data Protection Law (DPL) as announced by the UAE Cabinet office on 27 November 2021, creates a framework to ensure confidentiality and to protect the privacy of individuals, such as data subjects, by setting requirements for organisations, who fall within its scope, to implement appropriate governance for the management and protection of personal data.

The Data Protection Law has extra-territorial and jurisdictional reach and will apply to any organisation that is established in the UAE and processes personal data inside the UAE, and will also apply to any organisation that is established outside the UAE, but processing personal data of data subjects inside the UAE.

The DPL will take effect on 2 January 2022. Executive regulations to the DPL are expected to be published before March 2022, from which date businesses have a further 6 months to comply. Effectively, businesses have approximately 10 months from the date of this newsletter to ensure their compliance with the DPL.

NEASA alerts and encourages all businesses based outside the UAE but processing personal data of subjects located in the UAE to make changes and evaluate their activities to be compliant with the DPL in this regard.

Luthando Nondaba is a Policy Advisor at the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA).

For more information:
NEASA Media Department
media@neasa.co.za