The Sufficiency of Information Privacy Protection in Saudi Arabia
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Maurer School of Law: Indiana University Digital Repository @ Maurer Law Theses and Dissertations Student Scholarship 2018 The Sufficiency of Information Privacy Protection in Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz Almebrad Indiana University Maurer School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/etd Part of the Privacy Law Commons Recommended Citation Almebrad, Abdulaziz, "The Sufficiency of Information Privacy Protection in Saudi Arabia" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 56. https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/etd/56 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Sufficiency of Information Privacy Protection in Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz Almebrad Submitted to the faculty of Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree: Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD). November 2018 Accepted by the faculty, Indiana University, Maurer School of Law, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science. Doctoral Committee: ~ Distinguished Professor and C. Ben Dutton Professor of Law "Sara~Hughe University~~ Scholar and Fellow in Commercial Law ~~IC--· Jayanth Krishnan Milt and Judi Stewart Professor of Law Date of the dissertation defense: November 27, 2018 DEDICATION To My Father, Abdullah, for spending great time and effort for my education, and for being a role model as an independent thinker. To My Mother, Jawaher, for being the perfect mother. Words cannot describe my feeling toward the greatest person in my life. To My Lovely Wife, Afnan, for holding my hand all the way to the end of this dissertation. To My Little Boys, Abdullah and Oday, for giving me a hug every day and saying, "good luck". To My family’s great friend, Sydney, for being a family to me and for always being there. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the first place, I would like to thank Allah for the grace he offered me in my life and for advancing me in my academic career. Second, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my advisor Prof. Fred Cate for his valuable advice, support, and patience during my L.L.M and SJD degrees. I could receive no greater academic reward than having to write a dissertation under Prof. Fred Cate supervision. My appreciation is also extended to my dissertation committee members, Prof. Sarah Hughes and Prof. Jayanth Krishnan for sharing their insights. I would like also to express my gratitude and appreciation to the Graduate Legal Studies Office— Dean Lesley Davis, Prof. Gabrielle L. Goodwin, and Ms. May Rhea— for their generous and continuous support and advice throughout my LLM and SJD study at the Maurer School of Law on both the personal and the professional level. Lastly, but most importantly, my deep appreciation to my patents for their endless support throughout my life. My very special thanks go to my wife, Afnan, for being supportive and patient throughout my study. iii ABSTRACT Since the technology revolution, the rules of privacy law have rapidly changed in many countries to keep pace with new privacy challenges. Surprisingly, Saudi Arabia has no specific data protection legislation. This does not necessarily mean that people’s personal information is totally unprotected. In fact, the legal system in Saudi Arabia relies on both Islamic jurisprudence and written laws. Sharia law, the paramount body of law in Saudi Arabia, places a high value on an individual's privacy and prohibits any invasions therein, except in very limited circumstances. Moreover, other provisions relating to the sanctity and safety of individuals’ personal data are spread out over several legislative instruments. The dissertation discusses whether the current level of protection of individuals’ rights to privacy—particularly in the digital world— offered by both Sharia law and Saudi regulations is sufficient and effective; and recommends practical steps that can be taken to develop a stronger information privacy system. iv TABLE of CONTENT: Dedication ............... .......... ............................... ............................................................................... ii Acknowledgement .................. ..... .................... .... .......................................................................... iii Abstract ..... .............. ................................................................................................................ ....... iv Introduction .... ............. ......... .............................. .......................................................................... 1 Chapter one: Privacy in Sharia law v Introduction ....... ...................... ........................................... ............................... ..... .............. ..6 v Background ................ .............................. .............................................................................. ..9 Ø Sources of Sharia Law ............................. ....................................... ...... ... ....................... .9 § The Quran ..... ... ..... .............. ....................................................................................... ..9 § The Sunnah .............. ..... .............................................................................................. 10 § Scholars’ consensus (ijma) ............................................................................ ............ 11 § Reasoning by analogy (qiyas) ........................................ .......................................... 12 Ø The School of Law ............................................................................................................ 13 v The primary Islamic principles protecting information privacy ........... ........ ................... 13 Ø The prohibition of spying ............................................................................................... 14 § The general prohibition of spying in Islam .................................. .......................... 14 § Spying at someone’s home ........................... .......................... ............................... .... 15 § The usage of technology to invade someone’s house ...................... ........................ 16 § Private correspondence ........................... .......................... ............................... .... ....20 § Personal letters ..... ..................................................................................................... 21 § Spying on public places ......................................................................................... ...22 • Spying on public places by looking ................................................................... 23 • Listening to private conversations in public places ....................... ................... 24 Ø Seeking Permission .................................................................. ...................................... 26 § Seeking permission before entering someone’s home ...................... ................... ..27 • What is “home”?. .......................................... ...................... .................................27 § The role of General Custom .......................... .............................. ........ ..................... 28 § The purpose of seeking permission ............... .............. ............... ................... .......... 29 § Seeking permission is required .......................... .............................. ..... ....................30 • General permission ............................. ........ ........ .......................... ...................... 30 • Special permission/aggravating circumstances .......................... .......... .............30 § How to seek permission ......................... ... ........ ........ .......................... ...................... 33 • Explicit permission ............................. ........ ........ .......................... ...................... 33 • Implied permission ............................. ........ ........ .......................... ...................... 35 § The scope of the permission ............................. ........ ........ .......................... ............. 36 § The authority to give permission ............................. ........ ........ .......................... ......37 Ø Information pertaining to others ...... ....... ............................. .. ........ .......................... ......38 § Concealing others’ damaging information (sater al-awrat) ...................................39 § Keeping others’ confidential information (kitman alsir) .......................................43 • Professional relationships ...... ....... ............. .. ................ ........ .......................... ....45 • Non-professional relationships . ... ....... ........................ .. ... ..... ........ ............. ...... ..46 v Penalties/ punishment ……….. ............................. ...... ........ .......................... ...................... 48 Ø Material harm. ........ .................... ............................ ........ .......................... ...................... 49 Ø Moral harm ... ........ ....................... .......................... .......