LEGISLATION WATCH- Parliament to review Data Protection Act in October: A draft of the Data Protection Act will be presented to the House of Representatives in October, Mohamed Hegazy, the head of the Communication Ministry’s legislation committee, told Al Mal. The legislation would introduce minimum one-year prison terms and fines ranging between EGP 100k and EGP 1 mn for anyone who illegally collects, trades, or discloses users’ personal data. Global tech companies have been lobbying the House to replace prison terms with fines, warning that severe punishment could scare investors.

Background: The 54-article legislation lays out the ground rules for how businesses use personal information collected online. The bill, which was initially expected to be presented to parliament last year, guarantees users’ right to access their private data at any time as well as give them the right to take legal action against parties responsible for data breaches and misuses of private information. The legislation also stipulates that a unit to protect personal data be established under the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) whose members shall be selected by the Justice Minister and given powers of arrest.