What is PDPL Compliance?
PDPL Compliance is the legal requirement to control personal data in the UAE. It governs how personal data is collected, used, stored, shared, transferred, and deleted UAE Personal Data Protection Law, established by Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, together with its applicable Executive Regulations and regulatory guidance.
The law applies across the UAE Mainland and, depending on regulatory scope, to free zone entities. Any organisation that handles personal data is expected to operate with a clear purpose, documented controls, and defined accountability.
In practical terms, PDPL Compliance means your business can operate, scale, and transfer data with confidence, without guessing how it will look under regulatory scrutiny.
That certainty is the real value of compliance.
Designed for the UAE’s Long Regulatory Memory
In practice, privacy obligations are examined alongside AML controls, licensing conditions, and operational governance. Inspectors do not ask whether a policy exists. This service is designed exclusively for regulated entities operating in the UAE.
Most PDPL weaknesses in the UAE arise from identifiable patterns. Organisations often lack a complete understanding of where personal data resides. Cross-border transfers are frequently undocumented or poorly justified. Retention periods are applied without reference to legal or regulatory requirements. Breach response procedures exist, but cannot be executed under regulatory scrutiny.
GRC Advisory is a UAE-based GRC Consultancy with extensive experience supporting firms regulated by VARA, SCA, ADGM FSRA, DIFC DFSA, the Central Bank of the UAE, and federal authorities. Our work reflects how PDPL is reviewed during inspections, remediation exercises, and licensing processes.
Our PDPL Compliance services are aligned with existing AML, risk, and governance frameworks under Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, together with its applicable Executive Regulations and regulatory guidance, ensuring consistency across regulatory obligations. This approach produces privacy governance that is practical, defensible, and credible in the eyes of UAE regulators.
Why PDPL Compliance Is Important?
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, together with its applicable Executive Regulations and regulatory guidance, the handling of personal data is no longer informal or implied. It is regulated, examinable, and expected to withstand scrutiny.
For regulated entities, PDPL Compliance is important for reasons that are practical rather than philosophical.
- It is reviewed during licensing applications, renewals, and regulatory inspections.
- It influences how regulators judge the quality of management and internal controls.
- It reveals weaknesses in outsourcing, cloud usage, and third-party arrangements.
- It determines whether cross-border data transfers are lawful or exposed.
- It shapes how a firm is expected to respond when a breach occurs.
PDPL Compliance also reaches into everyday operations.
- Client onboarding depends on lawful data collection and retention.
- AML and sanctions processes rely on secure and traceable personal data.
- Vendor relationships involve ongoing data sharing and accountability.
- Employee data attracts the same standard of care as client data.
Get in touch with us to avail GRC Services in UAE.
Our PDPL Compliance Services in UAE
PDPL Compliance works when it reflects how an organisation actually operates. Our services concentrate on the areas of data governance that draw regulatory attention. Each engagement is built to withstand review, questioning, and follow-up.
PDPL Readiness Review
The PDPL Readiness Review provides a clear assessment of your current data protection posture against the requirements of Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, together with its applicable Executive Regulations and regulatory guidance. It establishes how close the organisation is to regulatory expectations and where exposure exists.
What we do:
- Assess current policies, processes, and controls against PDPL requirements
- Identify gaps across governance, operations, and technology
- Prioritise risks based on regulatory impact
- Define a practical roadmap to reach compliance maturity
Data Mapping
Data Mapping creates visibility over personal data across the organisation. It establishes a factual understanding of how data is collected, used, stored, shared, and retained across systems and third parties.
What we do:
- Build a complete personal data inventory
- Map data flows across systems, teams, and vendors
- Document records of processing activities
- Align data retention with legal and regulatory requirements
Privacy Notices
Privacy notices are examined closely by regulators because they reveal how an organisation understands its own data.
In the UAE, notices must reflect actual data practices. Generic wording, copied templates, or aspirational language create immediate exposure when tested against operations.
What we do:
- Draft and review privacy notices in line with PDPL requirements
- Ensure transparency around data use, sharing, retention, and transfers
- Structure consent and communication mechanisms clearly
- Align published notices with internal processes and controls
Breach Responses
A data breach does not announce itself politely. It arrives suddenly and demands decisions.
In the UAE, regulators look beyond the incident itself. They examine how the organisation responded, who took responsibility, and whether the process was controlled or improvised.
What we do:
- Design breach response frameworks that are clear and executable
- Define roles, responsibilities, and escalation authority
- Establish incident registers and evidence requirements
- Set notification thresholds and reporting processes
- Develop practical response playbooks for real-world scenarios
Cross-Border Transfers
Cross-border data transfers are where PDPL risk most often concentrates. Cloud hosting, outsourced services, and group-wide operations all involve personal data leaving the UAE. Each transfer must be lawful, justified, and controlled.
What we do:
- Assess cross-border transfers against PDPL requirements
- Define lawful transfer mechanisms and safeguards
- Review contractual controls with overseas processors
- Establish ongoing governance over international data flows
Ready to be Questioned Calmly?
PDPL Compliance Is Easier When Your Answers Are Already in Order. Speak to a Team that Prepares You
Accountants and Auditors
Asset Managers & Investment Firms
DPMS
Insurance
Lawyers
Payments and Fintech
Real Estate
Securities & Brokerage
TCSPs
VASPs
The Gaps Everyone Has
What trips firms up on PDPL in the UAE is not the law itself. It’s the gap between written policies and how data is handled. And that gap looks different in every regulatory environment.
VARA Regulated Entities
- Personal data is spread across onboarding systems, wallets, and blockchain analytics tools
- Cloud infrastructure operating across borders with limited transfer documentation
- Vendors processing sensitive data without PDPL-specific contractual controls
- Breach escalation is unclear between compliance, technology, and operations
DIFC Firms
- Overlap between DIFC DFSA governance standards and federal PDPL obligations
- Privacy notices aligned to DIFC rules but disconnected from group-wide data practices
- Data retention driven by habit rather than a documented legal basis
- PDPL responsibilities fragmented across business lines
ADGM Entities
- Well-drafted policies without supporting operational controls
- Incomplete data mapping across group entities and outsourced functions
- Limited visibility over offshore processing and support teams
- Breach response plans approved but never tested
SCA Regulated Entities
- Investor data shared across intermediaries without clear PDPL governance
- Record-keeping obligations clashing with undefined retention logic
- Legacy systems retaining personal data without effective access controls
- Compliance and IT operating in parallel rather than together
Mainland and Free Zone Companies
- Personal data is scattered across departments with no central ownership
- Outsourced providers processing data without formal governance
- Cross-border transfers happen by default, not by design
- PDPL responsibility assigned without authority or resources
Why GRC Advisors?
Choosing a PDPL advisor requires more than familiarity with legislation. It requires confidence in how compliance will be examined, questioned, and ultimately assessed when regulators look past the wording and into how decisions are actually made.
- We advise firms operating under VARA, SCA, ADGM FSRA, DIFC DFSA, the Central Bank of the UAE, and federal authorities. Our work reflects how compliance is reviewed and enforced locally.
- Our approach is shaped by years of AML inspections, remediation programmes, and supervisory engagement. We understand how regulators assess governance, evidence, and decision-making.
- We are engaged where the stakes are high: licensing, remediation, inspections, and regulatory follow-ups. PDPL is treated with the same seriousness as AML and financial crime risk.
- Engagements are led by experienced practitioners who remain accountable for delivery. Clients work with advisors who understand their regulatory exposure and business reality.
- Like the leading AML advisors in the UAE, we focus on controls that function in practice, documentation that reflects reality, and frameworks that withstand scrutiny.
Bring Order to Your PDPL Obligations
We Support Regulated Firms across the UAE with Privacy Governance that Holds up under Examination