Doha, January 30 (QNA) - Director of National Cyber Governance and Assurance Affairs at Qatar National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA), Eng. Dana Al Abdulla highlighted the pioneering role of the State of Qatar in the field of protecting the privacy of personal data, stressing the state's interest and keenness to increase the awareness of individuals and institutions on how to protect their data, in order to promote a culture of Cyber security.

In an exclusive interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Eng. Dana Al-Abdulla said that the Data Privacy Day, marked every year on Jan. 20, is an occasion to highlight the importance of protecting personal data for individuals and institutions, as different countries of the world celebrate this day to promote the role of official, non- official institutions in the field of protecting personal data.

She explained that choosing the Data Privacy Day, which was approved by the European Union (EU) to become a global day, corresponds to the signing of the Council of Europe Convention No.108, which is the most important convention on data protection, as it was agreed upon by a large group of countries in the world, under the best practices that govern the use of personal data in various technological means.

She added that the issuance of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani,of. Law No. 13 of 2016 on protecting personal data, reflects the State of Qatar's commitment to protecting the privacy of personal data, referring to the role of NCSA in implementing all laws, regulations and decisions related to data protection in Qatar, in addition to advancing partnerships with regional and global bodies involved in this field.

Eng. Al Abdulla indicated that the State of Qatar is one of the first countries to issue a special law to protect the privacy of personal data, as it was the first country in the Gulf and the third in the Arab world to enact this law, from which it set out to build capacities and promote innovation, research and development in this field, to ensure the security of the country's cyberspace.

She explained that the Personal Data Privacy Protection Law includes everything related to protecting the rights of individuals with regard to the privacy of personal data, as the law applies to personal data that is processed electronically, or that is obtained, collected or extracted through a mixture of electronic and traditional processing, while this law does not apply to personal data that individuals process within a private or family scop, or to any personal data to obtain official statistical data in accordance with the law.

As part of the commitment of NCSA to monitor the implementation of Personal Data Privacy Protection Law, Eng. Dana Al Abdulla indicated that a "Personal Data Privacy Protection Office" was established attached to the National Cyber Governance and Assurance Affairs, which in turn issued a set of guidelines to support the addressees and stakeholders of this law to understand their roles and rights.

She added that the office specializes in developing and monitoring the implementation of policies for the protection of personal data, and implementing controls and procedures for communication with observers or personal data processor to ensure policies' implementation, as well as providing training programs to prepare the necessary cadres to work in this field. It also investigates facts and violations attributed to controllers or processors of personal data, and receiving complaints and notifications of security incidents that caused the leak of personal data.

She pointed out that the most important factors for the success of protecting the privacy of personal data lies in regional and international cooperation, especially since the challenges are relatively common among countries, pointing to Qatar's membership in the Global Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), and as an observer member in Global Privacy Assembly (GPA), which is the largest global organization for the privacy of personal data.

Region, the State of Qatar has had an effective role in setting the guiding framework for the privacy of personal data at the level of the Arab Gulf states, in addition to many Arab and international understandings and agreements in this regard.

Eng. Al Abdullah stressed the keenness of NCSA to enhance awareness of the importance of protecting personal information and compliance with the law, in addition to the principles, guidelines and tools launched by the agency to assist institutions in this field, as well as the agency holding many training workshops, courses and lectures aimed at raising awareness on data protection, in cooperation with various stakeholders.

She stressed that "awareness" is the most important part, especially in light of the continuous technological development, as the presence of all the individual's data on the mobile contributes to its use for economic interests by some companies or social media, through advertisements, guidance or promotion, stressing that the user should read the privacy notifications and not bypass them, and checking the data that will be shared, as well as understands the reasons and motives for this sharing.

She pointed out that the goal of protecting the privacy of personal data lies in legalizing the exploitation of social media and companies for personal data, indicating that the laws regulate this relationship, as social media platforms have begun to ask questions in advance to their users about sharing their data.

She explained that there are many projects that will be implemented in the near future, which aim to raise awareness of data privacy and protection, and an awareness campaign has been launched on social media platforms for the same purpose. (QNA)