The Personal Data Privacy Act (PDPL) of Bahrain (Law No. (30) of
2018) came into force on August 1, 2019. The PDPL aims to more
closely align Bahrain's data protection framework with global
best practices and regulates processing (broadly defined to include
data collection, storage, disclosure, etc.) and data transfer in
Bahrain. Although the legislation is now in effect, the new
Personal Data Protection Authority to enforce the law has yet to be
formed in Bahrain.
Bahrain's adoption of the PDPL may be part of a trend
towards expanded data protection regulation by Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) members. For example, in the coming years, the United
Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia can both adopt more stringent data
protection laws.
