Digital data bill crafted

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 26: MP Alyaa Al-Khalid has submitted a bill on the establishment of the Central Agency for Digital Data Management; indicating the Council of Ministers should issue a decree on the appointment of the chairperson of the agency with the same job degree as an undersecretary and two deputies with the same job degree as an assistant undersecretary, specify the budget of the agency and mandate the concerned minister to oversee the agency.

The bill stipulates the agency’s tasks as follows:

■ Classify data into open, confidential and sovereign;

■ Ensure that official data are stored on servers owned by the State of Kuwait located in the country or the Kuwaiti embassies and consulates abroad;

■ Contribute to the creation of a vision on digital data governance;

■ Prepare strategies on cyber security in cooperation with Kuwait Cyber Security Community;

■ Update the classification of data in line with the latest technological developments;

■ Lay down policies on data governance, including individual data privacy;

■ Specify officials who will be given access to confidential and sovereign data, including procedures for handling such information;

■ Specify the criteria for evaluating the performance of public institutions in terms of dealing with digital data;

■ Create backups and protect them from damage, hacking or burning;

■ Submit confidential reports to the Council of Ministers annually. The bill mandates the chairperson and his two deputies to lay down the executive regulations of the agency within six months of their appointment.

The executive regulations will be referred to the Council of Ministers and the council has the right to make the necessary changes. Once the council approves the executive regulations, the State will adopt these regulations. The council will then instruct public institutions to establish a link with the agency; fully abide by the cyber security regulations; establish a department that will be tasked to enforce this law, regulations and circulars of the agency; and submit semi-annual report to the agency which will be used as basis for specifying the criteria for evaluating the performance of public institutions.

The bill, which does not contravene Right to Access Information Law No. 12/2020, will also be applied on private institutions with legal personalities whenever they obtain official data covered by this bill. Violators will be punished as per the provisions of Penal Code No. 16/1960, Cyber Crimes Law number 63/2015 and Civil Law No. 67/1980 on the leakage of confidential information, disregarding the sovereignty of the State, and damaging or hacking the database of the State.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary committee tasked to investigate the Eurofighter aircraft and Karacal helicopters contracts met on Thursday. Chairman of the committee MP Hamad Al-Matar confirmed that investigations are ongoing; pointing out the contracts include stipulations considered corruption such as illegal commissions. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff

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