The DIFC guidelines provide practical guidance for DIFC-registered entities engaging in electronic direct marketing, including useful “dos” and “don’ts”.

By Brian A. Meenagh, Fiona M. Maclean, and Laura Holden

What Do DIFC-Registered Entities Need to Know?

In January 2019, the Commissioner for Data Protection for the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) issued new Direct Marketing and Electronic Communications Guidelines, aimed at DIFC-registered entities that collect and maintain personal data for electronic direct marketing purposes.

The document provides practical guidance on the rules relating to the collection, maintenance, and use of personal data for electronic direct marketing purposes set out in the Data Protection Law, DIFC Law No.1 of 2007 (DP Law), which is based on the (now superseded) UK Data Protection Act 1998 and EU Data Privacy Directive 1996. However, the guidelines also take into account the latest direct marketing requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive 2002, providing practical examples of “do’s” and “don’ts” for entities to consider. The guidelines also appear to leverage provisions from the October 2018 draft of the EC’s new e-Privacy Regulation (ePR) which is currently anticipated to come into force in 2021.

By Brian Meenagh

On October 26, 2015, Raja Al Mazrouei, the Commissioner for Data Protection for the Dubai International Financial Centre (the DIFC), issued guidance on the adequacy of US Safe Harbor for the purpose of exporting personal data from the DIFC. The guidance is significant for organisations that transfer personal data from the DIFC to the US and such organisations should urgently review the basis upon which they transfer personal data from the DIFC to the US to ensure that they continue to comply with the DIFC Data Protection Law (No 1 of 2007).

The guidance follows the decision of the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) in Case C-362/14 – Maximillian Schrems v Data Protection Commissioner that Decision 2000/520 of the European Commission, which stated that Safe Harbor-certified US companies provide adequate protection for personal data transferred to them from the EU (the Safe Harbor Adequacy Decision), is invalid.

The key message from the guidance is that:

“the invalidation of the Adequacy Decision by the ECJ provides cause for the Commissioner to reconsider the adequacy status previously afforded under the Law to US Safe Harbor Recipients. However, the Commissioner also understands that there are ongoing negotiations between Europe and US authorities towards an improved Safe Harbor framework and that these negotiations are well advanced.