Kingdom first to have laws on data privacy

MANAMA: Bahrain will soon become the first in the GCC to have laws on data privacy and data sovereignty, Economic Development Board chief executive Khalid Al Rumaihi said yesterday.

The drafting of the proposed laws has begun and the private sector is also being consulted before the laws are tabled in parliament, he told the GDN during the first-ever Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit Bahrain at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay.

“This (enactment of the legislation) will be done in the next couple of months,” he said.

He said such laws were a necessary part of a robust digital economy ecosystem and would sharpen Bahrain’s competitive edge.

“The impact of the technology and data revolution is only going to increase and it’s vital that the region gets ahead of the curve.”

According to him, these steps were part of an ongoing drive by the Bahrain government, which in the last six months, has created the first onshore regulatory sandbox in Mena and also laid down rules for investment and loan crowdfunding.

“Home to the GCC’s leading ICT infrastructure, it is essential that Bahrain continues to foster the kind of innovative technologies and frameworks that have led to world-class companies choosing the kingdom as their home for regional operations,” added Mr Rumaihi.

Wikipedia defines technological (including data or information) sovereignty as a political outlook that information and communications infrastructure and technology is subject to the laws of the country in which it is located.