Support Centre

Bahrain

Summary

Law: Law No. (30) of 2018 with Respect to Personal Data Protection Law ('the Law')

Regulator: Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs ('MoJ')

Summary: While the Law entered into force on 1 August 2019, certain existing provisions in Bahrain's legislation remain enforceable and govern data protection in specific sectors. For example, Labour Law 2012 covers data protection in the context of employer-employee relationships, and the Real Estate Regulatory Authority ('RERA') recently announced the adoption of a resolution on anti-money laundering in the context of real estate. Bahrain is also notable for its increasing regulation of its financial sector. The MoJ, however, still has a wide range of duties, including the authorisation of data transfers outside the Kingdom of Bahrain and the monitoring of compliance with the Law. The Law itself sets a relatively comprehensive basis for personal data protection, although certain matters, such as the appointment of data protection officers, have been left to the MoJ to regulate.

Insights

Bahrain's regulatory framework for privacy has transitioned from a patchwork of sectoral laws with data protection provisions, to a more modern framework where a comprehensive data protection law now forms the pillar of data protection in the Kingdom of Bahrain. More specifically, this transition has been affixed by the enactment of the Personal Data Protection Law No. (30) of 2018 ('the Law'), which came into force on 1 August 2019.1

In this article, OneTrust DataGuidance Research aims to provide an overview of the finalised orders which came into effect a day after their publication in the Official Gazette, i.e. on 18 March 2022.

The Law No. (30) of 2018 with Respect to Personal Data Protection Law ('the Law') established the standard of regulating the processing of the personal data of Bahraini residents by natural and legal persons (companies). The supervision and enforcement duties have been assigned to the Data Protection Authority ('the Authority'), which is formed under the umbrella of the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs. The Authority is currently in the midst of finalising its implementing orders to support the effective implementation of the Law. Jeyapriya Partiban, Partner, Head of Risk Consulting at KPMG Fakhro, provides an overview of the scope of eight implementing orders which are expected to be finalised by the end of 2021.

Feedback