Privacy Policy Template for Saudi Businesses (PDPL-Compliant)

Every business operating in Saudi Arabia needs a PDPL-compliant privacy policy published on their website — it is a legal requirement under the Personal Data Protection Law (Royal Decree M/19), and SDAIA can impose fines up to SAR 5 million for non-compliance. Yet the majority of Saudi businesses either have no privacy policy at all, or use a generic GDPR template copied from a European website that fails to address PDPL-specific requirements like Arabic language obligations, SDAIA as the supervisory authority, and Saudi-specific data subject rights.

Why Your Privacy Policy Must Be PDPL-Specific

The PDPL has requirements that differ from GDPR in important ways, and using a European template without modification creates compliance gaps. PDPL requires disclosure of the specific legal basis for each processing activity under Saudi law — not EU law. It requires naming SDAIA as the supervisory authority — not a European DPA. Data subject rights under PDPL, while similar to GDPR, have different response timelines and procedural requirements. Cross-border transfer disclosures must reference Saudi adequacy determinations, not EU adequacy decisions.

Required Sections Under PDPL

• Organization identity: Full legal name, commercial registration number, and contact details including physical address in Saudi Arabia
• Data Protection Officer: Name and contact details of your DPO (required for organizations processing data at scale)
• Types of personal data collected: Specific categories — names, email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, device identifiers, payment information, location data, cookies
• Purpose of processing: Each specific purpose must be stated — 'order fulfillment', 'marketing communications', 'analytics', 'fraud prevention' — not vague language like 'improving our services'
• Legal basis: The lawful basis for each processing activity under PDPL — consent, contractual necessity, legal obligation, vital interests, or legitimate interests
• Data retention periods: Specific timeframes for each category of data — not indefinite retention
• Third-party processors: Named third parties who receive personal data, their purposes, and their jurisdictions
• Cross-border transfers: Countries where data is transferred, adequacy status, and safeguards in place
• Data subject rights: Full enumeration of rights under PDPL — access, correction, deletion, portability, withdrawal of consent, objection
• Cookie and tracking disclosure: Categories of cookies used, their purposes, and how to manage consent
• Data security measures: Description of technical and organizational measures protecting personal data
• Policy update procedures: How changes will be communicated and when the policy was last updated

Arabic Language Requirements

The PDPL requires that privacy policies be available in Arabic when the data subjects are Saudi consumers. An English-only privacy policy does not satisfy this requirement, regardless of how comprehensive it is. The Arabic version must be a proper translation — not a machine translation with obvious errors — and must use correct legal terminology as established in the PDPL and its implementing regulations.

The 7 Most Common Mistakes

• Using a generic GDPR template that references EU regulations, European DPAs, and EU adequacy decisions instead of Saudi law
• Not providing the policy in Arabic — or using low-quality machine translation
• Failing to specify data retention periods for each category (saying 'as long as necessary' is not sufficient)
• Missing cross-border transfer disclosures — most Saudi businesses transfer data to US/EU cloud providers without disclosure
• Not listing specific third-party processors by name and purpose
• Omitting cookie and tracking technology disclosure — especially Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, and marketing trackers
• No DPO contact information — required for organizations processing data at scale

Generate Your PDPL Privacy Policy for Free

Arqam360's Privacy Policy Generator creates a fully PDPL-compliant privacy policy in both Arabic and English in under 5 minutes. Select your business type (e-commerce, SaaS, services), specify your data collection practices, indicate which third-party tools you use, and the generator produces a professionally written policy that covers every PDPL requirement. The generated policy uses correct Saudi legal terminology, references SDAIA as the supervisory authority, and includes all required data subject rights disclosures.