DIFC Courts Offer Digital Vault Service to Store Documents

On 11 October 2022, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts launched a digital vault service called “tejouri” (the Arabic word for “vault”) that allows users to upload and securely store personal documents ranging from insurance contracts, title deeds, wills, and financial certificates, to images and multimedia files.  The vault provides a unique platform that functions simultaneously as a cloud vault and an online safe for data, supported by an onsite DIFC data centre and a secondary UAE-based backup data centre. 

Other notable features of the vault include that:

• The service can be used by anyone in any jurisdiction.
• Access to all data will be restricted to the ‘vault holder’ and their designated nominees. Even the DIFC Courts’ staff will not be able to access the stored material. 
• Documents will be stored using multiple factors of authentication, encrypted data, personalised biometric information and safe-keeping ledgers through advanced cryptography. 
• An entire portfolio of documents stored in the vault can be transmitted through Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

The service costs USD150 for 1GB storage, which is valid for 25 years. A further 5GB of storage can be obtained at an additional cost of USD100, renewable every 5 years.

Given the increasing importance of digital documents this is a welcome service that will not only provide a further layer of protection but will enable loved ones or other trusted individuals to easily gain access to critical documents at the right time.  

This development is in keeping with a series of recent technological innovations in the UAE, including the launch of the DIFC Digital Economy Court (to resolve disputes concerning digital assets, cryptocurrency, blockchain tech, AI and cloud services), the ‘mediation in the metaverse’ service recently unveiled by the ADGM Courts (a virtual space in which mediations can be conducted), and the announcement that ADGM Court judgments will be verifiable on a blockchain to facilitate quicker enforcement. 

To know more about this service, please contact Sara Sheffield (Partner and Head of Offshore (DIFC & ADGM) Litigation) sara.sheffield@crsblaw.com.