About this area

Most PDPL exposure is created not by the privacy notice but by the contract that nobody read against the privacy notice.

Our PDPL work tends to surface inside the underlying commercial transaction — a vendor DPA, a healthcare service agreement, an employment contract, a platform integration. Recent matters include adapting a multinational employment contract for UAE PDPL and MoHRE compliance with a confirmation memo on cross-border transfer requirements; negotiating a tripartite collaboration agreement among a multinational laboratory group, the firm's client, and a UAE health authority including a full data-privacy schedule; and advising on a mobile phlebotomy service agreement with a leading UAE healthcare provider including the Data Protection Agreement governing UAE-wide home blood-sample collection.

We have also advised on cross-border data flows for laboratory testing services (Gene by Gene), UAE-side handling of HIPAA-adjacent data, vendor-side DPA negotiation (WHOOP / Unilabs), and CBUAE data-protection queries.

PDPL exposure is created not by the privacy notice but by the contract no one read against the privacy notice.

— Pillar II · Regulatory & Compliance

For multinationals operating in the UAE, our work reconciles the global GDPR-style programme with PDPL realities — adapting privacy notices, DPIAs, processor and sub-processor chains, and cross-border transfer mechanisms so that the global template lands cleanly without over- or under-shooting.

The work, in detail

Four matter types we handle in data protection (pdpl).

Gap analysis and programme implementation.

PDPL maturity assessments, gap analyses against the federal decree-law and emerging guidance, and remediation roadmaps that produce a defensible compliance posture rather than a binder full of templates. We support implementation through to first audit.

Contracts, DPAs, and data-sharing.

DPA negotiation and drafting in the context of the underlying commercial transaction — vendor agreements, intra-group data-sharing arrangements, healthcare and laboratory service agreements, telemedicine arrangements, and embedded privacy schedules in tripartite collaboration agreements with regulators.

Cross-border transfers and localisation.

Transfer-impact analysis, SCC-style clauses adapted for PDPL, and the practical alignment between UAE PDPL and GDPR/HIPAA frameworks for multinationals — including cross-border clauses in employment privacy notices, group data-flow mapping, and UAE-side handling of restricted data categories.

Sector engagement and breach response.

Engagement with the UAE data office and sector-specific regulators (including DOH/DHA for healthcare and CBUAE for financial services) where notifications arise, and breach-response planning that lets the client triage, escalate, and notify within statutory windows rather than discover them.

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We're available to assess your position and advise on the most effective approach. Initial conversations are always without obligation.