Data Protection Act, 2023 (Law No. 005 of 2023) (Somalia)

Somalia's Data Protection Act (Law No. 005 of 2023) is the country's first comprehensive personal data protection statute, regulating the collection, storage, processing, and transfer of personal data within the country. It was signed into law by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 21 March 2023 and took effect two days later, on 23 March 2023, making Somalia one of the earliest fragile or post-conflict states in the region to adopt a dedicated data protection law. The Act establishes the Somalia Data Protection Authority as an independent oversight body charged with its regulatory, supervisory, and enforcement functions, tasked with ensuring that personal data is collected, stored, and processed fairly, transparently, and lawfully. The Authority was officially launched in February 2024, and implementing regulations and guidance have since been issued, indicating that the regime is moving beyond paper into operational supervision, a notable development given Somalia's broader institutional context. This entry was created from a June 2026 verification search rather than from a pre-existing ATLPF research file. The official text of the Act is publicly available via data protection repositories. The detailed provisions, lawful bases, data-subject rights, sensitive-data categories, breach-notification timelines, cross-border transfer mechanisms, and penalties, should be confirmed against that text and a primary-source URL added; the practical reach of enforcement across Somalia's federal member states should also be assessed. Source language: English (with Somali).

1. 1Somalia's first comprehensive data protection statute; signed 21 March 2023, effective 23 March 2023.
2. 2Regulates collection, storage, processing, and transfer of personal data.
3. 3Establishes the Somalia Data Protection Authority as an independent supervisory and enforcement body, launched February 2024.
4. 4Implementing regulations and guidance have been issued.
5. 5Requires fair, transparent, and lawful processing of personal data.
6. 6Reviewer action: confirm rights, transfers, and penalty provisions against the official text; add primary-source URL; assess enforcement reach across federal member states.