Lower House endorses data protection draft law

AMMAN — The Lower House on Monday endorsed the 2022 personal data protection draft law, as proposed by the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee, and reinstated some articles to their original, government-proposed form.

The legislative grounds behind the bill lie in its aim to uphold Jordanian constitutional rights and freedoms, align the Kingdom with global digital regulation and data safeguarding standards and ensure that Jordanian residents’ personal data and privacy is protected.

Furthermore, the draft law seeks to strike a balance between safeguarding individual data and the need for data processing and retention within the virtual realm. 

The scope of the bill encompasses data that had been previously collected or processed, making its application retroactive, as it mandates the data holder to implement a set of data safety and security measures, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The Lower Chamber also approved a bill amending the 2023 Real Estate Property Law, Petra reported.

The legislative rationale behind the bill involves strengthening the digital capabilities of the Land and Surveys Department. The bill will enable the department to efficiently process and approve all transactions and services electronically, with the exception of the signing of sale contracts. 

The amendments also authorised the Cabinet to transfer ownership of state-owned land to public investment funds or state-owned enterprises. 

The law also aims to facilitate foreign ownership in the Kingdom and encourage investment, while addressing partition rights through participation in auctions.

The Chamber's approvals on Monday marked the passing of all items on the extraordinary session's agenda, including the 2023 Public-Private Partnership draft laws, amendments to the 2023 Real Estate Property Law, 2023 Cybercrimes Law, amendments  to the 2023 Traffic Law, amendments  to the 2022 Companies Law, the 2023 law abolishing a joint agreement for oil exploration, evaluation and production between the Natural Resources Authority (NRA) and Canada’s Ammonite Energy International Inc, the 2023 Sharia Courts Law and the 2022 Personal Data Protection Law.