Qatar’s participation on the First Edition of the Arab Regional Forum on the Protection of Personal Data

State of Qatar Participated in First Edition of the Arab Regional Forum on the Protection of Personal Data, organized, on May 25, 2021, online, by The Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization, along with the Arab League.

Representing in the forum, Eng. Dana Al-Abdulla, Director of Compliance and Data Protection (CDP) department, Cyber Security Sector, Ministry of Transport and Communications

The forum discussed the most important laws and legislation followed in Arab countries and comparing them regulations from countries around the world with regard to protecting personal data, as Eng. Dana Al-Abdullah, indicated during her participation, the great interest that the State of Qatar has given in legislating laws and regulations to protect the privacy of personal data, that culminated with the issuance of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the country, Law No. 13 of 2016 on protecting the privacy of personal data.

The law emphasized the importance of rights of the individual, as it included controls and precautions to protect personal data from loss or disclosure, and the prohibition of processing personal data except under certain permitted reasons and within a framework of transparency, honesty, respect for human dignity and accepted best practices and in accordance with the provisions of this law. The law obliges controllers to process personal data with honesty and legality, implementing the controls over personal data processing systems, taking data protection precautions, and adhering to privacy protection policy, as well as establishing systems for receiving and studying complaints. It did also provide exemptions and penalties in case of breaches amounting up to 5 million Qatari riyals.

Al-Abdullah also explained the roles and responsibilities of management and law enforcement methodology in organizing and supporting individuals and institutions by preparing policies and coordinating with the public and private sectors, conducting research and development, and issuing guidelines.

At the conclusion of her participation, Al-Abdullah spoke about the most important change at the beginning of this year, which is the Emiri Decision No. (1) for the year 2021 to establish the National Cybersecurity Agency, which aims to maintain and organize national cybersecurity and promote and protect the vital interests of the state in the face of cyberspace threats, which will continue the work and effort made by CDP in enforcing Personal Data Protection.

To view the presentation, kindly visit the link.