Enforcement in Kuwait
The Data Protection Regulation does not provide specific penalties for breach of prescribed obligations but instead it prescribes to impose penalties and fine as per the CITRA establishing Law, which lays down a range of punishments including imprisonment for a term from one to five years and fine ranging from five hundred Kuwaiti Dinars to twenty thousand Kuwaiti Dinars or a combination thereof.
Violations of the E-Commerce Law are punishable by a maximum of three years imprisonment, and fines of no less than KWD5,000 (US$17,500) for anyone who discloses personal information without proper consent or a court order. The E-Commerce Law also provides for confiscation of tools, programs or devices used for unauthorized disclosure.
Additionally, the Cybercrime Law imposes severe penalties on anyone who unlawfully accesses a computer, its systems, a data electronic processing system, an automated electronic system, or an information network. Such individuals face imprisonment for up to six months and a fine ranging from KWD 500 (approximately $1,625) to KWD 2,000 (approximately $6,500), or either penalty. If the act results in the abolition, deletion, damage, destruction, disclosure, alteration, or republication of data or information, the penalty increases to imprisonment for up to three years and a fine between KWD 3,000 (approximately $9,750) and KWD 10,000 (approximately $32,500), or either penalty, especially if the disclosed data is personal. Furthermore, anyone who illegally accesses an information site or system, whether directly, via the internet, or through other means of information technology, to obtain confidential government data is subject to imprisonment for up to three years and a fine of KWD 3,000 to KWD 10,000, or either penalty. If such access leads to the deletion, damage, destruction, publication, or alteration of the data or information, the penalty increases to imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine ranging from KWD 5,000 (approximately $16,250) to KWD 20,000 (approximately $65,000), or either penalty, and these penalties also extend to data and information related to clients' bank accounts.
