BAHAMAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Judith Whitehead KC, Michaela Sumner-Budhi, Sean McWeeney Jr., Charisma Romer-Cartwright and Hubert Edwards, GrahamThompson
data otherwise for the purpose of transit through The Bahamas. 8.3 Role and Authority of the Data Protection Agency The office of the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) is established by the DPA 2003 as a corporation solely to enforce data protection rules as enacted by the DPA 2003. Its function is to regulate data controllers and processors and provide internationally accepted rules to ensure that the personal information of citi - zens is collected, kept up to date, stored, used, dis - closed, and disposed of lawfully. The DPC is also empowered to encourage trade asso - ciations and other bodies to prepare codes of practice for dealing with personal data and to approve such codes of practice. Under the DPA 2003, the DPC has the authority to do the following: • receive complaints of possible contraventions to the Act; • investigate contraventions to the Act; • issue enforcement notices to data controllers; • issue prohibition notices to prevent the transfer of personal data from The Bahamas to a place out - side The Bahamas; • issue notices to third parties to provide information to it that would assist it in performing its functions;
• upon receipt of a warrant from the Magistrates’ Court, empower authorised persons to: (a) enter the premises of data controllers and data processors to inspect the premises and any data therein and to inspect, examine, operate, and test any data equipment therein; (b) require any person on the premises of a data controller or a data processor to disclose and produce data or data material under their con - trol; (c) inspect and copy or extract information from data, or inspect and copy or take extracts from data material; and (d) require persons to give any of its authorised officers information regarding the procedures employed for complying with the provisions of the Act; and • prosecute summary offences committed under the DPA 2003.
9. Looking Forward 9.1 Upcoming Legal Reforms
See the 2026 Trends and Developments article of the Chambers Global Practice Guide for Doing Business In... The Bahamas.
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