Bahrain’s Ministry of Justice will temporarily assume the functions and powers prescribed to the Data Protection Authority (the “Authority”) under Bahrain’s new Personal Data Protection Law. (Decree No. 78 of 2019.) It will remain as such until an independent Authority is allocated a budget and a board of directors is established. Bahrain’s new Personal Data Protection Law came into force on August 1, 2019, and granted certain regulatory powers to the Authority, including the imposition of fines and the ability to grant consent for the processing of certain types data. Although a temporary Authority has now been established, many procedural aspects of the Personal Data Protection Law remain ambiguous, such as the application process to gain prior written authorization or how notice of data processing is to be submitted.

For more information on the Authority and Bahrain’s new Personal Data Protection law please click here.