Ministry of Finance (MoF) stressed the importance of protecting personal data for financial transactions – in light of the digital revolution and the increasing global trends to protect individuals from the misuse of their personal information or violation of their privacy.
Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary at MoF, highlighted that standards of data protection are used as a foundation to implement best international practices in financial markets, and are global requirements to measure countries’ international competitiveness index.
Al Khoori also stressed the UAE’s commitment to protect the rights, data and personal information of individuals, and to provide clear privacy policy.
Entities in the UAE are also committed to their role with regards to protecting data and the rules and regulations of collecting and processing data.
“The developed economic and legislative framework of the country sets focus on protecting personal information by collecting, preserving and processing data, to prevent misuse of data, privacy violation and financial losses,” said Al Khoori. “This will contribute to establishing a sound economic environment that gains the trust of investors and financial institutions, and leads the UAE to become the preferred place to do business.”
In 1980, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) developed a number of rules and procedures to protect privacy and trans-border flows of personal data, and the Council of Europe convention for the protection of individuals with regards to automatic processing of personal data in 1981, helps in protecting individuals rights.
The Council of Europe launched Data Protection Day in 2006 to raise awareness on the importance of data protection for individuals and businesses by organising numerous conferences and discussions.
In light of global technological advancement, the value of personal data for private and public institutions as well as companies has increased in importance, which in turn strengthens the need to protect personal data and prevent acts of misuse or privacy violation. This is done through implementing clear laws and legislations to ensure concerned entities’ commitment in handling personal information on local and cross border levels.
