Saudi Arabia approves new law to protect personal data

Riyadh: The Council of Ministers approved on Tuesday the personal Data Protection Law.

The new law, which protects personal data from unconsented collection and processing, is to be implemented within six months, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) announced.

It's also designated to protect any personal data that might lead to identifying directly or indirectly the user from unconsented collection and processing, the Saudi Gazette reported.

The data include, name, identification number, address, phone number, personal records, financial records and Images, videos or any other identifying data.

The new law will ensure the privacy of personal data, regulate the sharing of personal data and prevent the abuse of personal data.

The head of SDAIA Abdullah Al-Ghamdi that the law will organize the process of disclosing personal data according to specific controls that ensures optimal use of it.

He assured that it's not permissible to use personal means of communication for the purpose of marketing or awareness materials except with the approval of the owner of personal data, or the existence of a mechanism that enables him to express his desire to receive it or not.

He noted that awareness materials sent by public authorities are excluded from this.

Al-Ghamdi stressed that the system guarantees the owners of personal data the right to view their data and know the purpose of its collection and processing, and they have the right to access it or obtain a copy of it.

"The data owner has the right to request restricting the processing of his personal data for cases especially for a limited period of time, bearing in mind that the collection of personal data is limited to the minimum amount of data that enables the achievement of the specified purposes."