Dubai: When you make phone calls around the world or plan meetings at work, you may have wondered what platforms are legal in the UAE and if using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to make VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls puts you in violation of the law.
The punishment for misuse of VPN in the UAE depends on the type of usage done by the purported individual.
In the UAE, you can be fined and imprisoned for at least one year for using VPN to change IP addresses to gain access to communication services, audio and video broadcasting channels blocked by the UAE government. This is in accordance with Article No. 34 of the Federal Decree-Law No. (5) of 2012 On Combating Cybercrimes, which states, ‘Shall be punished by imprisonment of at least of one year and a fine not less than Dh250,000 and not in excess of Dh1 million or either of these two penalties whoever uses communication services, audio or video broadcasting channels without legal right or facilitates such use by others over the Computer network or information technology means.”
VPNs are misused to commit crimes or prevent their discovery
According to the amendment made by the UAE government in 2016 – Article 1 of Federal Law No. 12 of 2016. Article 9 of Federal Decree-Law No. (5) of 2012 On Combating Cybercrimes was amended, which pertains to the fraudulent use of a computer network protocol address or a third-party address to commit a crime or prevent its discovery.
This crime is punishable by a fine of not less than Dh500,000 and not more than Dh2 million, or by either of these two penalties.
How to use a VPN legally?
In the UAE, the use of VPN is permitted if the VPN is used in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Telecommunication and Digital Regulatory Authority (TDRA) and the federal laws.
As of August 1, 2016, institutions, companies, and banks can only use the VPN for internal purposes in the UAE. According to Federal Decree-Law No. (5) of 2012 on Combating Cybercrimes and its amendments, using a VPN to commit a crime or for illegal purposes is a crime. According to Article No. 42 of the Cybercrime Law, the illegal use of VPN is also prohibited by deportation, which states: “The court may decide to deport a foreigner convicted of any of the crimes specified in this law upon execution of the sentence.”
Can VoIP be considered a misuse of VPN?
VoIP is not considered a misuse of the VPN if people are using government-approved platforms.
As per Article 34 of the Cybercrimes Law, using an unauthorized VoIP calling system in the UAE is considered a violation.
The following VoIP applications were allowed to be used during the pandemic by TDRA:
Remote working and E-learning applications
- Microsoft Teams
- Skype for Business
- Zoom
- Blackboard
- Google Hangouts Meet
- Cisco Webex
- Avaya Spaces
- BlueJeans
- Slack.
Tele-health applications
Mind Mina Telemedicine
- NextGenGP Telehealth
- vSee
- OKADOC
- DOXY
- GetBEE
The TDRA reviews the permitted applications constantly, so the list above may be subject to change.