Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On  December 15, 2022, the UK government and the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (“DIFC”) issued a joint statement on the shared commitment to deepening the UK-DIFC data partnership. The statement explains that “[t]here are over 5,000 UK companies operating in the UAE, many of which depend on the free and secure flow of safe data across borders.” Further, the UK and the DIFC have strong links in the financial sector, following the DIFC’s establishment in 2004, with 16% of the DIFC’s financial services companies originally based in the UK.

On February 28, 2022, the Emirate of Dubai enacted Law No. 4 of 2022 on the Regulation of Virtual Assets (“VAL”) and established the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (“VARA”). By establishing a legal framework for businesses related to virtual assets, including crypto assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), this landmark law reflects Dubai’s vision to become one of the leading jurisdictions for entrepreneurs and investors of blockchain technology.

On  November 27, 2021, the UAE Cabinet Office enacted its first federal Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree Law No. 45 of 2021, the “UAE Data Protection Law”). The UAE Data Protection Law will come into force on January 2, 2022.

This week, the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications (the “Minister”) announced that the UAE would introduce a new federal data protection law (“Data Protection Law”), the first federal law of its kind in the UAE. The Data Protection Law is one of the initiatives to be implemented under the recently published “Principles of the 50,” a charter of 10 strategic principles that will guide the political, economic and social development of the UAE for the next 50 years.