Achieving Privacy Policy in Saudi E-Government Websites for the OECD Principles of Personal Data Security and Privacy

An Evaluative Study

Abstract

The study aimed to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the measures taken to protect personal data in Saudi e-government websites (authorities, ministries, institutions, centers, universities, and colleges), totaling 114 websites. This was achieved by evaluating the privacy policies of these websites and identifying the extent to which they comply with the principles of personal data security and privacy issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study adopted the descriptive-analytical method, and the research tool was a checklist developed by the researcher based on OECD’s principles of personal data security and privacy, namely: collection limitation, data quality, purpose specification, use limitation, security safeguards, openness, individual participation, and accountability. The findings revealed that most privacy policies of Saudi e-government websites achieved many of the OECD principles, reflecting a commitment to securing personal data and enhancing citizens’ trust. Universities ranked highest in terms of compliance with privacy principles in their e-government websites, followed by ministries, institutions, centers, and authorities, while colleges ranked the lowest. The most implemented principles were collection limitation (73.68%), purpose specification (72.81%), use limitation (70.18%), data quality (68.42%), openness (65.79%), security safeguards (60.53%), accountability (58.77%), and individual participation (41.23%). The study recommended the importance of developing clear privacy policies for e-government websites that lack them and updating these policies in line with regulations and standards to unify security practices and procedures, enhance transparency, and ensure accountability. It also emphasized the need for Saudi e-government websites to comply with the Personal Data Protection Law issued in the Kingdom of Saudi.