Dubai Pulls Back Fines on VPN Users

Unlike the heavy fight put up by countries like China or Russia, Dubai has always been one of those places where VPN users could live in peace so long as they didn’t use such tools for wrongdoing. In the past, those who didn’t comply with this rule have been fined by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority up to AED2,000,000 ($544,435).

But in the last few months, more and more personal VPN users in Dubai were facing an alarming message concerning the use of these services, which also came with a fine. The confusion about the legality of VPNs in the UAE rose up once again, but fortunately it was just false alarm.

Smoke without fire

Honestly, no one would be truly surprised nowadays if another country would impose a VPN bounty hunt on their citizens, especially in Dubai where public internet access is heavily restricted and some services have already been shut down, like Skype.

The panic set in when many VPN users inside the country started sharing messages across social media, displaying the AED5,000 fine – the equivalent of roughly $1,300 – that they were expected to pay. To their relief, the TRA reacted promptly, stating these were false and that no fine was to be paid. Etisalat, one of the two ISPs in Dubai and which is required to block any websites that are restricted by the TRA, confirmed the authority’s statement.

“There are no legislations in the country that obstruct the economic movement or the work of local or international companies based in the UAE,” the TRA said back in August 2016, when the controversy was at its peak. Still, the confusion surrounding VPNs in Dubai remains to this day, so it’s best to know beforehand just how far the rope can be stretched and what separates legal from illegal.

What VPN users in Dubai can and can’t do

Regardless of the country and situation, it’s good to remember the motto: VPNs might hide it, but won’t make it legal. In Dubai, Federal Law No.5 established in 2012 says that the use of VPNs is only illegal according to the purpose that each individual uses it for. Therefore, fraudulent activities committed via a VPN include using it to unblock all outlawed content – such as adult or gambling sites, politically sensitive material, Israeli domains and the like – and for downloading torrents, too.

However, Spotify, Hulu, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer and many other online services that are blocked in the country are simply that, blocked. They are not illegal services, and therefore using a VPN to access them is not either, though it is surely not advisable. Attention must be paid to the type of content that they provide. Likewise, using VPN services to encrypt connections and increase privacy is also legal.