OMAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Said Al-Shahry, Thamer Al-Shahry, Jeremy Pooley, Maria Mariam Rabeaa Petrou, Mujtaba Ali Kazmi and Salim Al Harthi, Said Al Shahry & Partners
7.5 Others Under the Penal Code, a person who becomes acquainted with a secret by virtue of their profession, occupation or work and (without the consent of the concerned person) discloses it other than in the cir - cumstances permitted by law, or uses it for their per - sonal benefit or the benefit of another person, may be imprisoned for between one month and one year.
Rights of the Data Subject Consent
Under the DPL, personal data may only be processed with the data subject’s express consent. This is to ensure that any processing of personal data is done within the framework of transparency, honesty and respect for human dignity. Any request to process per - sonal data must be in writing, in a clear and under - standable manner. Sensitive personal data The DPL provides for a general restriction on the pro - cessing of certain data, including: • genetic and biometric data; • health data; • data relating to an individual’s ethnic origin, sexual life, political or religious opinions or beliefs, criminal convictions; and • data relating to security measures. The processing of such data will require authorisation from the MOTCIT. Other rights Data subjects enjoy several other rights under the DPL, including the right to: • obtain a copy of their processed personal data; • transfer personal data to another controller; • revoke their consent in respect of the processing of their personal data; • amend, update and withhold personal data; and • be notified of any breach or violation of their per - sonal data and measures taken in this regard. 8.2 Geographical Scope The DPL applies to any processing of data in Oman. Similarly, the transfer of data outside Oman may only be done in accordance with the controls specified in the Regulations. 8.3 Role and Authority of the Data Protection Agency The MOTCIT is the authority responsible for imple - menting the DPL and has the right to do the following:
8. Data Protection 8.1 Applicable Regulations
Oman has issued its first comprehensive personal data protection law, enacted by RD 6/2022 (DPL). The DPL came into force on 13 February 2023 and was further supplemented by the Executive Regulations issued by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (the MOTCIT) pursuant to Ministerial Decision 34/2024 (the “Regulations”). The DPL introduces matters such as the rights of the data subject and the obligations of controllers and processors of personal data. The DPL applies to any processing of personal data, which is defined in the DPL as data that makes a natu - ral person identifiable, directly or indirectly, by refer - ence to one or more identifiers. Identifiers include but are not limited to an individual’s name, civil identifica - tion number or other data related to an individual’s genetic, physical or mental identity. Article 3 of the DPL sets out certain circumstances in which the provisions of the DPL will not apply to the processing of personal data. These circumstances include but are not limited to the following: • the protection of national security or public interest; • the execution by the units of the Administrative Apparatus of the State and other public legal per - sons of their functions prescribed to them under law; • compliance with a legal obligation imposed on a controller under any law, judgment or court deci - sion; and • the protection of the economic and financial inter - ests of the State.
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