These weeks there is a topic that monopolizes conversations, information, opinions, jokes and passions, the World Cup of football. This year, in addition to the strictly sporting, from which the strictly economic cannot be separated, a new and necessary debate has been added, the suitability of granting the organization of an event like this to a country like that, for all the money it has guaranteed to the owner of world football, FIFA, and for all the facilities and luxuries it offers to the participating delegations. Because, democracy and Qatar, have not mixed well. And ingredients such as freedoms and civil rights are not very appreciated. And within this scenario of clash of interests between visitors and hosts, how does an issue like data protection and the privacy of a fan who wants to go there to watch a football match fit in?
We will point out a first detail, a source of national pride in the country's propaganda: its territory is safe and there is no crime and so that it continues to be so during the World Cup, 15 thousand cameras with facial recognition capabilities will monitor the fans present in Qatar, both in the stadiums and on transport and in the city of Doha in general. The government justifies this because it considers it a measure to reinforce security, prevent violence and even stop possible terrorist attacks. And can anyone object? Of the personal data that must be provided to access the country or to stay, it would also be very bold to consider that they have legal coverage that guarantees a lot of protection for the individual. But then, how is it that the country is an economic center of enormous magnitude in the Middle East? Maybe not for the average citizen, but for companies from all over that settle there and operate there, there is a regulatory framework that guarantees them the legal stability that is always necessary for business. It is an oasis within the country, the Qatar Financial Centre, a commercial and financial district located in Doha, created by the government, which offers its own legal, regulatory, fiscal and business environment for economic development. Inside there is an alignment with international regulations and facilities to be a business paradise. Curiously and explicitly, separately and independently of the Qatari legal system. There, the GDPR is in force, yes. Not outside.
To accommodate this one-off event, which is extraordinary in the country due to the volume of people it can mobilize, transitional regulations have been made before and after the World Cup that aim to offer a shared framework of rules, rather of customs and coexistence, but which neither covers nor intends to cover the privacy and protection of visitors' personal data.
