National Comprehensive Data Protection/Privacy Laws and Bills 2019

Abstract

130 countries and independently governed jurisdictions and territories around the world have now adopted comprehensive data protection/privacy laws to protect personal data held by private and public bodies. Another almost 40 countries and jurisdictions including Nigeria, Iran, and Indonesia have pending bills or initiatives.

The laws in these countries apply to personal information held in both electronic and physical form and to all or nearly all subject areas. In nearly all of the countries, the laws apply to personal information held by private bodies and by governments.

In nearly all of the countries, an independent data protection or information commission oversees and enforces the laws. Most laws have also included specific exemptions for the media while a few also specifically refer to national right to information laws.

This map shows which jurisdictions have adopted laws or have pending initiatives. This update includes 16 new countries which adopted laws in the last 2 years including Algeria, Botswana, Brazil, Congo, Lebanon, Kenya, Panama, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, and Uzbekistan.

Keywords: privacy, data protection, personal data