EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Ibrahim Shehata, Tasneem El-Naggar and Safa Rabea, Shehata & Partners
1.2 Regulators Key Regulators and Their Respective Areas of Jurisdiction The PDPL has identified the key regulator for data privacy and protection and its respective area of jurisdiction in Article (19), where it is stated that a Personal Data Protection Centre (PDPC) will be established to protect personal data and organise the processing and availability thereof. In order to achieve its objectives, the PDPC may exercise all the competencies stipu - lated in the PDPL, including: • setting and developing policies; • implementing decrees and procedures for the protection of personal data; • unifying data protection and processing poli - cies; • co-ordinating with all government and non- government authorities to ensure the applica - tion of personal data measures; • issuing licences and approvals, and imple - menting various measures related to the protection of personal data; • receiving complaints related to the application of the PDPL to issue the necessary decisions in this regard; • monitoring those addressed by the PDPL and taking the necessary legal measures; • checking the conditions for cross-border data movement; • concluding agreements and memorandums of understanding, and co-operating and exchanging experiences with the relevant international bodies; and • preparing an annual report on the status of personal data protection in Egypt. PDPC Judicial Authority The 13th and 14th chapters of the PDPL grant the status of judicial officers to the employees of the PDPC and prescribe penalties for violating
to determining and receiving financial compen - sation. Clear scope of application The PDPL outlines a clear scope of application, clarifying in Article (2) that it applies to anyone who commits one of the specified crimes under the PDPL and who is: • an Egyptian, whether present in Egypt or residing abroad; • a non-Egyptian residing inside Egypt; or • a non-Egyptian residing abroad, if the act is punishable in the country in which it occurred under any legal description, and the violated data belongs to Egyptians or foreigners resid - ing inside Egypt. Mechanisms for the secure transfer of data to other countries The PDPL establishes binding and transparent mechanisms for the secure transfer of data to other countries, prohibiting the transfer of data, whether by collecting, storing, processing or sharing, to a foreign country that does not pro - vide the same level of protection as stipulated under the PDPL. Considering the above, it appears that the PDPL greatly relates to the multinational princi - ples of the GDPR; however, the PDPL has sev - eral shortcomings represented by the failure to involve various groups in society in drafting and preparing the law. It is still possible to address these shortcomings with the issuance of the PDPL executive regulations, through which the authorities can protect and promote privacy and data protection rights.
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