PDPL vs GDPR: What Organisations Need to Do to Comply in Saudi Arabia
This episode continues the Privacy Engine series on international data protection legislation with a practical, business-focused tour of Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL). If you already work with GDPR-style compliance, you will recognise many familiar concepts such as data subject rights, accountability, security controls, breach response, and safeguards for international transfers. You will also hear where the PDPL takes a distinct approach shaped by local priorities, including national data sovereignty, public trust, and cultural considerations.
The conversation situates the PDPL within Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s rapid digital transformation. That transformation includes expanding cloud adoption, AI capabilities, fintech innovation, digital government services, and major smart-city ambitions, such as NEOM. Against that backdrop, the PDPL is presented not only as a compliance obligation but also as part of the legal infrastructure intended to support innovation while keeping personal data governed, secure, and trusted.
You will learn who the PDPL applies to, including its extra-territorial reach when organisations target or monitor people located in Saudi Arabia. The episode explains how “personal data” is defined broadly and how the PDPL introduces a clear category of sensitive personal data with stronger protections. The discussion highlights several notable differences from GDPR practice, especially the PDPL’s consent-first posture and its narrower use of legitimate interest, particularly where sensitive data is involved.
The episode also walks through individual rights (information, access, correction, deletion within limits, restriction, and transparency expectations around automated decisions), plus core organisational obligations. These include processor due diligence, staff training, records of processing, and DPIA-like risk assessments for higher-risk activities. Breach handling is covered in a practical way, treating both malicious attacks and operational mistakes as incidents that can require action when harm is likely.
A key focus is international data transfers, where the post-2023 approach is described as more workable and closer to global safeguard models, while still retaining strong central oversight by the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA). Finally, the episode closes with enforcement, including meaningful fines and, in some cases, criminal consequences. The clear message is that PDPL compliance in the Kingdom is taken seriously, not a box-ticking exercise.
If you want a clear PDPL vs GDPR comparison with actionable compliance takeaways, this episode is an efficient place to start.