Introduction

Ministry of Foreign Affairs is primarily responsible for the foreign diplomatic relations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to achieve and protect national interests. It also enhance the Kingdom's role in establishing security, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

Believing in the importance of personal data and its confidentiality, this notice was prepared to support the beneficiary to understand the nature of data that we collect by accessing the Ministry's website or by digital services provided by the Ministry.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs is committed to maintain the confidentiality of personal data to ensure and preserve the rights of data owners. The Ministry complies with the national data governance policies, issued by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), and key legislation to protect rights and privacy of individuals regarding their personal data, which subject to Personal Data Protection System and its executive regulations.

Item 1: Your Consent to the Privacy Notice.

The privacy notice is an integral part of terms and conditions of using the Ministry's website. Your visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website and your use of its services means you are acquainting and agreed on what is stated in this privacy notice. Accordingly, we urge the beneficiary of the Ministry's services to go through this privacy notice constantly to check any updates.

Item 2: Changes of Privacy Notice 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs reserves the right to make any changes to the privacy notice occasionally without a further notification. We therefore recommend reading and reviewing the notice published on the Ministry's website periodically to keep updated with the changes. Any changes or amendments will be effective right upon publishing the updated notice.

It shall be in force from the date of amendment: This notice was last updated on (4 Rajab 1445 corresponding to January 16, 2024).

Item 3: personal data that will be collected and processed

Your personal data that we collect and process based on the products or services that the Ministry provides. We will typically process the following categories of personal data that you provide to us:​

Details	Type of Data
Name, Nationality, Photo, Gender, Date and Place of Birth	Personal Data
Email Address, Residential Address (National Address) or Work Address, Contact Phone Number	Contact Information
National ID Number, Iqama Number , and any other similar documents	Identity Data
Applicant's Credit Card Details [not saved in the system, sent directly to the payment service provider] Voucher Number [if applicant chooses to pay by voucher]	Financial Data
Passport Number, Passport Expiry Date , Applicant's Passport Details (copy of passport)	Passport Data
Data that you provide to us by filling in any of our forms or by contacting us, whether face to face, by telephone, email, online or otherwise.	Correspondence
Cookies: Information sent by the browser that the user used when visiting the website, which is stored on the user's device. It aims to collect statistics about the user's visit to the Ministry's website based on the Internet Protocol (IP) address on the personal device. This data is used to improve the user's experience in using the website. Examples of such information that the browser automatically collects: IP address, time of access to the website, pages you visited.	Technical Data
Some services on the Ministry's website may require health data (medical reports of applicants).	Health Data

​Item 4: Methods of collecting your personal data

Collecting and processing your personal data is necessary to provide the highest level of service, as the Ministry collects and processes some personal data, which is obtained directly or indirectly, for example but not limited to:

1. Data provided by the user

• Data required when registering on the Ministry's website, services and applications or that you provide to the Ministry when you create your user file, including but not limited to personal data, contact information, financial data and health data.
• Data exchanged through the Ministry's communication with website users and service beneficiaries, such as requests submitted for customer support services, inquiries, notes, and complaints received from you.

2. Data collected automatically:

• Technical data: including your Internet Protocol address, which is the IP address used to connect your personal computer to the Internet, geographic location, and cookies.
• The Ministry's website may include external links of other websites, and these links may collect data about users by providing them with its services or cookie settings. The user's interaction with those sites is subject to the privacy notices provided by those providers.
• Data provided to us through government integration platforms with government agencies for the purposes of data integration and sharing in accordance with the data sharing policy issued by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA).

Item 5: The purpose of collecting and processing personal data

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeks to improve the level of performance of its services provided to beneficiaries by collecting and processing personal data directly or indirectly for the following purposes:​

1. Enabling and providing the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and meeting its requirements.
2. Preparing, issuing and updating policies that serve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. Completing the data required to apply for a job or training.
4. Sending invitations to participate in workshops, courses and conferences.
5. Processing your visa application and sending you notifications related to your visa application via email.
6. When a medical report is needed to prove the applicant's exceptional situation.
7. Responding to inquiries from beneficiaries of the Ministry's services.
8. Raising and developing the level of service performance, improving the beneficiary's experience, and ensuring the continuity of providing services with the required quality.
9. Authenticating the user's identity when registering for the Ministry's various services.
10. Meeting certain legal and regulatory requirements.
11. Monitoring and detecting violations of the Terms of Use as well as other potential misuse when using the site or one of its services.
12. Analyzing data, preparing statistics, and issuing internal reports.
13. Maintaining improved site performance and services provided, and the security of its software, systems, and network.
14. Spreading awareness campaigns about the Ministry or its programs.

 Item 6: Use of your personal data

In accordance with the laws and regulations for personal data protection, we have the right to keep any of your personal data and use it to contact you through any of the regular means of communication. We at the Ministry can work to hide your identity by taking updated organizational and technical measures, to avoid any risks to your personal data. We also confirm that we are in The Ministry are keen on the systematic and optimal use of your personal data as it is used to complete the registration process and improve the beneficiary's experience.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also applies dedicated measures to comply with the personal data protection system and its regulations, provided that, these measures contribute to the application of the main principles of data protection, which are:

1. To be used in a systematic, fair and transparent manner.
2. It should be limited to the specific purpose of its collection and to the minimum amount of data.
   
3. To be constantly updated, to verify its quality and integrity.
   
4. It should be kept when necessary, and destroyed as soon as its purpose no longer exists.
   
5. It should be kept secure and private.
   

Item 7: Sharing your personal data

Your necessary personal data may be shared with government entities for specific purposes based on a regulatory basis or a justified practical need aimed at achieving a public interest without causing any harm to national interests, the activities of entities, the privacy of individuals, or the safety of the environment. Your personal data will only be available to authorized Ministry employees who need to access it to provide services. We may share your information with the following entities:

1. Government entities that are associated with the nature of the Ministry's activities for integration purposes, including but not limited to: Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Interior, Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence.
2. The entities with which the Ministry cooperates on the basis of agreements or memorandums of understanding for the exchange of data for legitimate purposes, including providing services and ensuring their participation through a safe and reliable environment in accordance with the main principles and general rules for sharing data issued by the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA).
   
   

​Item 8: The regulatory basis for processing your personal data

In accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law and its implementing regulations and the Personal Data Protection Policy issued by the National Data Management Office, the regulatory basis on which we rely to process this data is:

1. The explicit consent that the user provides us with in order to collect and process his personal data by agreeing to the privacy notice.
2. Responding to an official request from a government entity in accordance with its powers stipulated in the national laws and regulations.
3. Achieving a legitimate interest to improve our services unless this violates the rights of the personal data owner or conflicts with his interests, and that data is not sensitive data.
4. Preserving vital interests of the personal data owner or protecting him from any harm.
5. Achieving public interest by trying to develop and improve joint government procedures. The determinants and controls for this purpose shall be the laws and regulations.​
   
   

​Item 9: Storing your personal data

In accordance with the general rules for transferring personal data beyond geographical borders, which set the rules and standards for transferring personal data outside the Kingdom's geographical borders, your personal data will be stored and processed in a secure manner within Saudi Arabia's geographical borders. Moreover, your personal data will be protected by the best technology in line with the policies and controls of the National Cybersecurity Authority and international standards to ensure unauthorized access is not permitted and reduce cybersecurity risk, in order to ensure the preservation of digital national sovereignty of such data. An exception to this is the cases stipulated in the article (29) of the Personal Data Protection Law when there is a need to transfer or process data outside the Kingdom's geographical borders.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs protects personal data when it is transferred outside the Kingdom for any regulatory purpose, such as serving the Kingdom's interests, implementing an obligation under an agreement to which the Kingdom is a party, or implementing other regulatory or judicial purposes. There should be an appropriate level of protection for personal data available outside the Kingdom. The transfer or disclosure is limited to the minimum amount of personal data that is needed. There are exceptions to the terms of data transfer or disclosure within the absolutely necessary cases that are related to the life of the data subject or his vital interests and what is related to that.

In the absence of an accreditation decision (an inappropriate or insufficient level of protection for personal data outside the Kingdom) or an international agreement, the data is transferred in accordance with the guarantees specified by the laws and regulations, which are:

1. Binding Joint Rules: Include the issues approved by the regulation on transferring personal data outside the geographical borders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
2. Standard contractual items guarantee adequate protection of personal data.
3. Certificates of compliance with the law and regulations in the Kingdom are issued by an entity approved by the competent authority.
4. Binding codes of conduct.
5. Binding agreements between public sectors.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will dispose of personal data and destroy it in a secure manner to prevent its loss, misuse, or unauthorized access in accordance with the relevant regulations and instructions. However, it may retain this data after the purpose of its collection has been fulfilled.

Item 10: Your rights regarding the processing of your personal data

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs places the protection of personal data for its beneficiaries at the top of the ministry's priorities. The ministry makes efforts to provide high-quality service to beneficiaries, and you have the following rights:

1. The right to know, including being informed of the legal basis or actual need for the collection of your personal data. The purpose of this, your data will not be processed subsequently in a manner inconsistent with the purpose of its collection or in other ways not specified by the regulations, laws, decisions, and policies applicable in the Kingdom.
2. The right to access your personal data, to review it, obtain a clear copy, request its correction, transfer, or request the destruction of data no longer needed, in a manner consistent with the legal principles and legitimate interests mentioned in the personal data protection system and according to the ministry's policies and regulations. This is via the email shown in the first item, “contact information".
   
3. The right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data, at any time, unless there are legal or judicial requirements requiring the opposite in accordance with the personal data protection system and in accordance with the policies and regulations of the Ministry, via the email indicated in the first item, “contact information".
   

We would like to note that some or all of these rights may be subject to certain exceptions and exemptions specified by the system, and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure their compatibility with those exceptions. This Notice specifies how to exercise those statutory rights for the data owner.

Item 11: Complaints, inquiries and communication

In case you have some complaints or inquiries related to the Privacy Notice, you can contact us via email to the Data Management Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• Email: [DMO@mofa.gov.sa]
• Address: Riyadh, Al-Namouthajiyah District, King Fahd Branch Road, P.O. Box: 55937, Postal Code: 11544
• Phone number: 0114067777

Item 12: References to relevant legislation

For more information regarding the related policies and laws referred to in this notice. You can refer to one of the following links:

• Policies issued by the National Data Management Office
• Controls issued by the Cybersecurity Authority
  
• The Personal Data Protection System and its implementing regulations
  
• General rules for transferring personal data outside the geographical borders of the Kingdom.​