Cyber Crimes in Dubai UAE

Internet Activities That Are Cyber Crimes In Dubai UAE

In an effort to prevent the proliferation of internet crimes, UAE President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued UAE Cybercrime Law No. 5 of 2012, detailing the country’s strict stand against computer-oriented crimes. According to the law, offenders will face hefty penalties such as long-term imprisonment or Dh 50,000 worth of fines, at the least. Severe offenses can be given a monetary penalty of up to Dh 3 million.

The Cybercrime Law is implemented through a close monitoring of all internet activity in the UAE. This means that all activities are done through the internet, such as searching for, sharing, or downloading information, are all watched. Furthermore, content retrieval makes the deletion of files basically ineffective at erasing the existence of a certain content. Federal agencies have the capacity to recover deleted content and will definitely do so should that be required for cybercrime investigations. Warrants to take computers for investigative purposes can also be issued.

Some of the internet activities that can lead to legal proceedings are the following;

• Illegal collection of information from or through the use of computers
• Fraud – including Ponzi schemes, the illegal use of another person’s credit card, identity or other information, or falsification of information for investment purposes
• Cyber threats
• Pornography procurement, consumption, ownership, and dissemination

It is important to note that while the mandatory sentence for crimes related to pornography is only the minimum jail term, violators will have a lifetime label of “sex offender” which can affect their public reputation.