Senate refers personal data bill back to Lower House with amendments

AMMAN — The Senate on Monday referred the personal data bill back to the Lower House with amendments.

The senators' amendments allow institutions, which are subject to the supervision of the Central Bank of Jordan, to legally process personal data, including the transfer and exchange of data inside or outside the Kingdom, without informing the natural person whose data is processed, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The amendments also exempt these institutions from acquiring licences to do so, provided that these institutions do not disclose the data to other parties.

As per the bill, the term "process" includes data gathering, recording, storing, organising, editing, using, sending, displaying, hiding, coding, disposal, erasing, amending, describing or disclosing the data by any means. 

The Senate also added an item requiring the issuance of a special bylaw for regulating the processing of data, and removed "accessing data" from the definition of "process" mentioned in the draft law.

The amendments also granted the Cabinet, rather than the Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, the authority to appoint four competent experts to the personal data protection council that would be established under the bill. 

During a session on Wednesday, the Senate referred the bill to its Public Services Committee for further consideration and deliberation. 

After receiving the amended bill as referred from the Senate, the Lower House can either insist on its previous decision, or approve the Senate's amendments.