Catching The Wave: New Data Protection Law In Bahrain

Bahrain's Law on the Protection of Personal Data was published on 19 July 2018, and will come into effect on 1 August 2019. The Law will require a variety of changes to the way businesses process personal data in Bahrain or about residents of Bahrain. Data protection has not been a high priority topic for most businesses in Bahrain, with the limited exception of international entities subject to data protection requirements in other jurisdictions in which they operate. While the publication of the new Law provides a considerable lead-in period within which entities subject to the Law will need to comply, the fact that the Law creates criminal offences means that compliance is all the more important and should be treated as a high priority.