Abu Dhabi: An independent authority to manage and protect personal data has been proposed by a group of security experts in the UAE.
Experts at the second Annual Gulf Cooperation Council’s e-Participation and e-Governance Forum in the capital said the proposed authority must oversee the use of personal information online.
“Although the UAE constitution has several laws protecting individuals’ online and personal data, the absence of a single government entity which overlooks information security means that a confusion regarding legal and social responsibilities arises,” said Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director-General of the Emirates Identity Authority.
In order to prevent cybercrime the official called for further collaboration between different authorities. Meanwhile, he gave assurances that the Emirates Identity Authority does not share personal data with other organisations and the ID card is simply used for identity verification.
“The problem is that although independent government sectors have their own databases and infrastructure, the different parts of the government do not communicate with one another in that sense,” he said.
Earlier this year Gulf News reported that an Indian man whose credit card information was stolen had money withdrawn from countries all over the world. He was the victim of identity theft. Due to the nature of the unauthorised transactions, the flight purser was very careful regarding future purchases using his credit card, refraining from using it to make online purchases.
Demographics
By developing an independent entity to overlook and collect data while keeping it private, experts say the UAE government could gain a better understanding of its demographics.
“This will help with issues such as knowing how many more school seats to create and providing better health care as figures become more realistic rather than based on expectations and educated guesses,” Al Khoury said.
Information technology has become the backbone of Abu Dhabi’s 2030 vision of establishing a comprehensive e-service based government in a society that is both economically solid and diversified.
Abdul Kareem Al Raisi, director of strategy and planning at the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC), which runs the UAE’s public Information Technology services, said: “The prime objective [of the ADSIC’s e-government strategy] is to achieve integration of government services of the highest calibre, which are based on international standards, that meet the needs and requirements of all stakeholders and contribute to accelerating the shift towards a knowledge-based economy.”
