Qatar leads the way with new standalone data protection law
Type
E-journal
Date
14 Nov 2016
Jurisdiction
Qatar
Taxonomy
Data Protection
Copyright
LexisNexis
Relevant company
Clyde & Co
Legal reference
Qatar Law No. 13/2016
Analysis
The Qatari government has passed a law requiring a minimum level of protection for personal data within the State of Qatar. It is the first GCC member state to issue a generally applicable data protection law. Qatar Law No 13/2016 Concerning Personal Data Protection (the Data Protection Law) was issued on 3 November 2016. It will come into full effect in six months' time (unless this period is extended).
The Data Protection Law gives rights to natural persons whose personal data is processed online, or obtained through any other means in order to be processed online, or processed through a combination of online and more conventional methods. As such, the Data Protection Law is designed to address concerns of individuals on the availability and security of their personal information through technology.
Some of the key points from the new law are: