Gulf News reports United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan approved wide-ranging reforms to the country’s legal system, including passage of the Personal Data Protection Law. The legislation includes data subject rights, controls and obligations for data processing activities and strong provisions on user consent. Additionally, a law was passed to create the UAE Data Office, which will provide guidance for and enforcement of the PDPL.Full Story... Read More

The Taliban is believed to have seized the U.S. military’s biometric devices storing iris scans, fingerprints and biographical data. The technology, known as the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, was intended to gather biometric data of 25 million people, 80% of the Afghan population. “We processed thousands of locals a day, had to ID, sweep for suicide vests, weapons, intel gathering, etcetera,” a U.S. military contractor explained. “(HIIDE) was used as a biometric ID tool to h... Read More

The Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Office of Data Protection released guidelines aiming to improve compliance with the Data Protection Regulations 2021. The guidance covers eight key areas of the regulations, includes advisory information and provides examples of practical application. ADGM Commissioner of Data Protection Sami Mohammed said the guidance provides “entities and authorities with a robust foundation to update their existing data protection compliance programmes.”Full Story... Read More

China and the League of Arab States signed an agreement on data security, the South China Morning Post reports. Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said the agreement aims to create an “open, fair, non-discriminative” digital environment. “The prominent risks and challenges on data security posed by personal information infringement and massive cyber-surveillance on other countries have made it urgent [to find] a global solution,” he said.Full Story... Read More