In the last few years, a more intensive proposal of protection laws initiatives by lawyers occurred. Such trends are observed not only in Europe or the United States of America, but also in the Middle East and the Asia Pacific.

The number of approved laws is much lower than the number of proposals. However, the increasing importance given to data security gives hope that over time the area of personal data, which is still little controlled today, will become more secure.

In the year 2022, the United States of America (USA), Japan, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have taken a step towards greater privacy protection.

Data protection in Virginia and Colorado, USA

Although it may be hard to believe, even today there is no data privacy law that governs information privacy in the USA. However, the US states have hundreds of data security laws governing its collection, storage, disposal, etc. Although they are not sufficient to ensure the security of personal data, it is hoped that their corrections and additions will stabilize the current order, which has many loopholes.

For example, in 2021 Virginia and Colorado passed data protection laws which include changes related with personal information selling as well as ability to request clients for sensitive personal information. At the time at least ten USA states are about to approve consumer privacy legislation in 2022. According to lawyers, two more states – Oklahoma and Florida – are expected to join Virginia and Colorado later this year. These states followed the footsteps of California which signed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) on 28 June, 2018 and it went into effect 1 and a half year later.

Other states cannot yet boast of a big push in the field of data protection. Therefore, their citizens have no choice but to take care of their own data security. One of the most popular methods is the use of a Virtual Private Network. If this interests you too, various information about VPNs will be useful for you.

Act on the Protection of Personal Information in Japan

It is worth mentioning the news related to data protection laws in Japan. The country has renewed its Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) in order to make it more similar to the European Commission’s GDPR. In other words, Japan tried to reach European standards, which would not only help for cooperation, but also regulate the data protection situation in Japan.

What has changed? First of all, the scope of Japanese data subjects’ rights was expanded and the range of personal information which can be given to the third parties were limited. Also, data breach notifications became obligatory and penalties for violating these laws increased significantly. Although the penalties have started to be applied since 2020 but all the other amendments that were mentioned above, came into force on 1 April, 2022.

Personal Information Protection Law in China

The Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) is special because it is the first legislation on data privacy as well as personal information in the country. That is a significant event because China as a country has the largest online community in the world (more than 1 billion Internet users).

China also relied on the European GDPR when creating PIPL. Nevertheless, in this legislation on data privacy, there are still many undefined cases that allow the law to be interpreted differently. Also, it can be noticed that in some cases PIPL might even be stricter than GDPR.

Data protection in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

Year 2022 is outstanding for Saudi Arabia as on 23 March its first Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) came into force. Thus, the companies still have a year to conform to this law. PDPL protects personal information privacy and regulates the processes of how organizations can collect, process and retain such data.

Speaking about the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it can boast to have its first federal data protection law to come into force in 2022 as well. Although the law entered into force on January 2, 2022, it actually began to operate only in the summer, as it was waiting for the UAE Cabinet to provide the finer details of the law.

Other privacy laws

In 2022 Qatar (Qatar’s Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection Rules) and Thailand (Thailand’s Personal Protection Act) brought into force personal information protection laws. Furthermore, it is expected that Switzerland’s Federal Data Protection Act will come into force. Although the exact date has not been determined, it is believed that the law will enter into force at the end of 2022.

Finally, the Data Governance Act, the ePrivacy Regulation and the Network and Information Security Directive will likely be adopted in the European Union in 2022. So, we are moving towards a safer tomorrow in small steps!