Qatar's New Personal Data Privacy Law

At the end of last year, Qatar became the first Gulf state to enact a comprehensive privacy law. Until now, the many companies that market to consumers or have employees based in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have had to determine their local practices based on the various countries' patchwork of sector-specific laws and regulations, as well as the differing privacy regimes in force in the region's business-focused free zones. Now, at least in Qatar, the Personal Data Privacy Law ostensibly serves as a single law governing the collection and processing of data subjects' personal information, and may serve as an exemplar for future GCC privacy laws.

The text of the law does not appear to be available online in English at present, but the Qatari government has issued a statement summarizing some of the law's most important points. Although questions remain as to the scope and meaning of some of the law's provisions, the statement provides some indication of