In line with global trends Saudi Arabia has taken decisive steps
toward building a comprehensive framework for personal data
protection. As Saudi Arabia's data protection regime takes
shape, the intersection between data privacy and competition law
becomes apparent. The overlap between these two regulatory
regimes—each enforced by separate authorities—poses new
compliance and operational risks for companies active in the
Kingdom. This client brief considers the increasingly overlapping
landscape of data protection and competition law in Saudi
Arabia.
Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law, first
introduced in 2021 and revised in 2023, introduced a significant
shift in how personal data is governed in the Kingdom. The law is
enforced by the National Data Management Office, a department of
the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA). At
its core, the Data Protection Law seeks to ensure that personal
data is collected, stored, processed, and
