NEWS
QATAR
New national privacy law in Qatar
of provisions which seek to establish
appropriate information disclosure
obligations on data controllers
toward data subjects (e.g. purposes
for collection, parties to be involved
in processing activities, manner of
processing) and also requires data
controllers to limit their collection and
retention of personal data to that
which is relevant and necessary to
achieve the purposes for which it was
collected, and ensure that it is accurate,
complete and current.
The State of Qatar has announced
that it has issued Law No. 13 of 2016
Concerning Privacy and Protection
of Personal Data (the “Law”). Once
gazetted, the Law will officially be
the first national level legal regime
specifically governing data protection
in the GCC.
As such, it is expected to herald a new
era of privacy-related compliance
considerations for data controllers
and processors in Qatar and the wider
Middle East region, with neighbouring
nations anticipated to follow suit in
short order with their own national level
privacy and data protection regimes.
The general rule under the Law is that
the personal data of an individual
is to be processed in accordance
with principles including those of
transparency, integrity and respect
for human dignity and acceptable
practices. The Law contains a number
The Law also contains a Chapter
aimed at imposing conditions and
restrictions on the use of electronic
communications for direct marketing
purposes, where direct marketing is
defined as “[s]ending any advertising or
marketing materials via any means to
individuals”.
of a typical HD movie of 3GB within around 30 seconds.
Vodafone is one of the first carriers to introduce 4.5G
technology in the GCC region.
Vodafone Qatar
partners with Huawei
to introduce 4.5G
Vodafone Qatar, in partnership with Huawei, has announced
another milestone for their 4G network having achieved
data speeds of 1Gbps in a test environment thanks to the
introduction of 4.5G technology.
The necessary technology to achieve such high speeds was
tested on live sites in Vodafone Qatar’s network reaching
speeds of up to 780Mbps. This speed allows the download
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Ian Gray, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Qatar said,
“The introduction of a 4.5G network will enable the
implementation of smart city technologies such as the
Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud services in the country by
providing the mobile broadband capability that underpins
any smart city initiative. Vodafone is committed to
continually investing in Qatar’s ICT sector which will play a
key role in realising Qatar National Vision 2030.”
ZongYan, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Qatar, said:
“We are delighted to build on our strategic partnership with
Vodafone Qatar and contribute to accelerating advanced
ICT services in Qatar. A 4.5G network enables Vodafone
Qatar to offer its customers true broadband speeds that
haven’t been experienced in the region before, and pave the
way fo