EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Ibrahim Shehata, Hesham Kamel, Mohamed Abed and Omar Selim, Shehata & Partners
permit authorises the data controller or processor to transfer personal data that has been collected or pre - pared for processing from within the geographic ter - ritory of Egypt to outside its borders. In addition, the Regulations set out the conditions for the cross-border transfer of personal data for both legal persons and natural persons. With respect to legal persons, obtaining a licence/permit for the cross-border transfer of personal data is subject to specific requirements, including, in particular: • identification of the destination country; • information on the nature of the activities of the foreign controller or processor; • a description of the categories and nature of the personal data involved; • details of the applicable security measures, storage locations (temporary and final) and data protection safeguards during transfer; • confirmation of compliance with the applicable cross-border transfer standards and requirements; • specification of the purpose of the transfer; and • sufficient information regarding data volumes, retention periods, and storage arrangements, in accordance with the templates issued by the Center. With respect to natural persons, obtaining a permit for the cross-border transfer of personal data requires the following: • providing information on the nature and description of the personal data to be transferred, its volume, and the purpose of the transfer; • identifying the destination country and the applica - ble retention period; • setting out the security measures, temporary and final storage locations, and safeguards adopted to protect the data during transfer; and • demonstrating compliance with the applicable standards, rules and requirements for cross-border data transfers, and providing sufficient details regarding storage arrangements in accordance with the templates issued by the Center. As part of the licensing process, the procedure for obtaining a licence/permit for the cross-border trans -
fer of personal data, whether for legal persons or natu - ral persons, requires the submission of an application to the Center through the designated electronic portal. The application must include all required information and supporting documents. The Center examines the application and notifies the applicant of its decision, whether approval or rejection, within 90 working days from the date on which all required information and documents are duly submitted. 5.3 Data Localisation Requirements Any cross-border transfer of personal data is prohib - ited unless it is carried out in accordance with the conditions expressly set out in the PDPL and its Regu - lations, and subject to obtaining the required licence or permit from the Center. In addition, the SCDS’s Cloud Policy, including data localisation requirements, has entered into force and recommends that data classified as “top secret” or “secret” be hosted exclusively within Egypt. This applies to data related to national security or sensitive operations, and aims to ensure maximum protection against unauthorised access, breaches or manipula - tion. 5.4 Blocking Statutes Blocking statutes and foreign judgment control rules are not commonly recognised under Egyptian law in the same manner as in some other jurisdictions. Egypt is not a party to the Hague Evidence Conven - tion, which governs how courts in one state request evidence located in another. In this regard, the analy - sis below refers to the closest existing legal concepts under Egyptian law that address similar issues. Judicial Co-Operation and Mutual Legal Assistance Under the Criminal Procedural Law, judicial authori - ties may co-operate with their foreign counterparts in the investigation and prosecution of crimes through mutual legal assistance requests. In this regard, the Criminal Procedural Law provides that a request for judicial assistance submitted by a foreign authority may be granted only where it relates to an offence punishable under the law of the requesting state, and where the execution of such a request does not preju -
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