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Dubai International Financial Centre’s updated data protection law - Part 1: Developing a modern, global law in a UAE financial free zone
Journal of Data Protection & Privacy,
3
(2),
161-171
(2020)
Abstract
It is a little-known fact that in the Middle East, a data protection law very similar to the original EU Directive of 1995 and the UK Data Protection Act of 1998 exists. But the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is the purveyor of this law, which is in force since 2007 and undergoing an overhaul to be completed by December 2019. The updated law combines international data protection standards of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act with innovative, new concepts that work for the DIFC’s FinTech/X-tech incubator. Ultimately, the goal is to obtain adequacy recognition by the European Commission. This paper tells us how such a law was created and how a small jurisdiction in the United Arab Emirates is making big strides in data protection.
Keywords: data protection; DIFC; Middle East; UAE; adequacy
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Lori Baker Until her recent relocation to Dubai, UAE, Lori Baker was a Senior Associate at Fieldfisher LLP in London, in the Privacy, Security and Information team led by Hazel Grant. Her primary areas of focus over the past 11 years have been in Data Protection and Regulatory Compliance and her strengths are in the areas of global/EU data protection, anti-corruption and ethics, IT and telecoms outsourcing, as well as global telecoms regulation and commercial contract negotiation. Lori has been admitted to the bar in two jurisdictions in the US (Pennsylvania (1998) and New Jersey (2002)), and has been a qualified Solicitor of England and Wales since 2012. Her certifications include ISEB certification in data protection and until April 2016 she held a certification as a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional – International (CCEP-I) with the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics. Lori is now based in Dubai and is continuing her work as a Legal and Compliance professional.
Julie Beeton moved to Dubai with Allen & Overy in 2008 after practising law in Toronto and London. She moved in-house in 2011 to the Marriott legal team and is now General Counsel and Assistant Professor at the Canadian University Dubai. Julie is an experienced in-house corporate commercial lawyer with extensive experience in cross-border corporate transactions. Her areas of expertise include corporate/ commercial, international business law, IT regulation and contracts, hospitality law, business ethics, data protection, capital markets and corporate governance.
