Virtual private networks (VPNs) usage is growing fast in the United Arab Emirates, Gulf countries, and Asia for different reasons.
The use of VPN is legal in many countries, there are some restrictions imposed by some governments under cyber laws. But It’s illegal in many countries, including the UAE, to commit criminal acts or to visit those sites which are banned very strictly by the UAE government or authorities.
In the UAE, VPN can be used by companies, institutions, and banks for internal purposes. In many Gulf countries, expatriates use VPN for audio and video chats with their families and friends back in their home countries.
The use of VPN is legal in UAE only under the guidelines of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority. But the misuse can result in a heavy penalty as well as imprisonment for violating the local cyber law.
Article 1 of the Amended UAE Cyber Law states that the violators “shall be punished by temporary imprisonment and a fine not less than Dh500,000 and not in excess of Dh2 million or either of these two penalties whoever uses a fraudulent computer network protocol address by using a false address or a third-party address by any other means for the purpose of committing a crime or preventing its discovery”.
SO it’s clear that there is a fine on the use of VPN in the UAE.