Algeria Law 18-07 compliance and requirements, so your data handling holds up when someone asks.

What it is

What is Algeria's Law 18-07 and what is it used for?

Law No. 18-07 on the protection of natural persons in the processing of personal data is Algeria's personal data protection law. It applies to automated and manual processing of personal data by public bodies and private persons whose controller is established in Algeria or uses means located there. Processing rests on the person's express consent unless the law lists an exception, children's data needs the consent of the legal representative, and data must be lawful, collected for set purposes, adequate, accurate and kept no longer than needed.

The Autorité nationale de protection des données à caractère personnel (ANPDP), an independent administrative authority attached to the President of the Republic and seated in Algiers, supervises the law. The practical test: for any personal data you hold, could you show its purpose and basis, who was told, how it is protected and where it goes?

Current law. Law No. 18-07 of 25 Ramadhan 1439, corresponding to 10 June 2018, published in Official Journal No. 34 of 10 June 2018. Confirm current wording and the authority's guidance with your legal advisers.

Who it is for

Who needs to comply with Algeria's Law 18-07?

The Law reaches organisations of every size that handle personal data in Algeria. Organisations usually come to Sterling for a structured programme from one of four directions:

• Any company or public body processing personal data in Algeria. The law covers automated and manual processing by public and private controllers established in Algeria or using means located there.
• Banks, insurers, health and education providers handling sensitive data. Sensitive data is barred outside the listed cases, and the national authority can place risky processing under prior authorisation.
• Outsourcing and BPO firms sending data abroad. Transfers abroad need the national authority's authorisation and a state with sufficient protection, unless a listed derogation applies.
• Cloud, software and IT providers acting as processors. Processors work under contract on the controller's instructions, keep a processing register and secure the data.

The aim is handling of personal information that you control and can evidence. Compliance depends on how the rules are applied every day, not on a policy document alone.

Requirements

What are the main Algeria Law 18-07 requirements?

Strip away the vocabulary and Algeria's personal data law requires a business to comply in six areas of personal data handling. The list below puts each one in business terms; the Law and the regulator's guidance give the full wording and exceptions.

• Collect with consent and a clear purpose: personal data is processed with the person's express consent unless the law lists an exception, for lawful, specific purposes, and kept accurate and no longer than needed.
• Declare processing before it starts: the controller files a declaration with the national authority and starts once it holds the receipt; risky processing needs authorisation, and sensitive data is barred outside the listed cases.
• Inform people and answer their rights: people are told who collects their data and why, and can obtain access, correction or erasure and object, including to direct marketing sent without prior consent.
• Secure the data and bind processors: appropriate technical and organisational measures protect the data, and a processor acts only on the controller's instructions under a contract covering security.
• Appoint a delegate and keep records: since the 2025 amendment, the controller designates a data protection delegate and keeps a register of processing activities and an automated log of operations, available to the authority.
• Get authorisation before sending data abroad: data goes to another state only with the national authority's authorisation and where protection is sufficient, unless the law lists a derogation such as the person's express consent.

Compliance route

How do you achieve Algeria Law 18-07 compliance?

There is no certificate at the end of this route. Compliance is something your organisation demonstrates, to the ANPDP if a complaint or incident arises, and to customers who ask. Sterling helps you build and run the programme; interpretation of the law in contested cases remains with your legal advisers and, ultimately, the regulator and the courts.

1. 01
   Map the personal information you handle.Customers, staff, users and suppliers: what is collected, for which purpose, on which basis, where it is stored, who processes it for you and whether it leaves Algeria.
2. 02
   Gap analysis: compare current practice with the Law.Each area of the Law reviewed against what actually happens, with actions, owners and dates agreed.
3. 03
   Put the controls and routines in place.Complete the formalities the Law asks for, rewrite notices and consent wording, put security measures and processor contracts in place, name who is responsible and agree a breach procedure.
4. 04
   Test the programme and review the results.Internal review of samples, a simulated incident or data-subject request, and a management review that closes findings with evidence.
5. 05
   Operate, demonstrate and keep it current.Answer requests, record incidents and report them as the Law requires, keep formalities current, review transfers, refresh training and follow the ANPDP's guidance as it is issued.

Check the route before you sign. The Law creates no certificate of compliance, so treat any offer of a "Algeria Law 18-07 certificate" with suspicion. If a customer wants independent assurance, ISO/IEC 27701 or ISO/IEC 27001 is certifiable by an accredited certification body; confirm the body's accreditation scope directly with the accreditation body concerned.

Cost

How much does Algeria Law 18-07 compliance cost?

The cost of a Algeria Law 18-07 programme is driven by how much personal information you hold, how many systems and suppliers touch it, and how much already works. Your proposal shows each component, with what is included and what remains for your legal advisers.

Timeline

How long does Algeria Law 18-07 compliance take?

Timing depends on how scattered your personal information is, how quickly system owners respond and how much has to change. Your proposal sets out the phases for your scope, long enough to map the information, fix the gaps and show that requests and incidents are handled the way the procedures say.

If a customer or contract has set a date, tell us at the outset and we will say plainly what can be in place by then and what should follow.

Your engagement

What your Algeria Law 18-07 engagement includes

Your scope covers the full programme, from the information map to evidence that runs. Sterling does not certify, attest or validate compliance with the Law, and the Law creates no certificate of compliance; the ANPDP supervises it, and we work alongside your legal advisers.

• Information map, gap analysis and plan

  Sources, systems, suppliers and overseas flows, with actions and owners agreed.

• Policies, notices and procedures

  Notices, consent wording, request, security and breach procedures, processor contract terms and transfer documents, drafted from Sterling's own templates with your teams.

• Effivity ISO & GRC software

  Registers, requests and incidents managed in Effivity, included with the engagement at no additional cost.

• Training for everyone

  Internal auditor training for your review team, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.

• Internal review and management review

  Sample testing, an incident exercise and findings closed with evidence.

• Formalities support

  Help preparing the formalities the Law asks for and the responsible person's role, with findings closed with evidence.

Sterling OS™ sets how we deliver. Design™ is guided support, where your team builds the programme with our consultants' direction; Drive™ is managed support, where our consultants do most of the work with your input. You choose one of the two, not both in sequence. Once the programme is operating, Sustain™ keeps reviews, training and updates on schedule, and Automate™ is Effivity, where the records live.

The Autorité nationale de protection des données à caractère personnel (ANPDP), an independent administrative authority attached to the President of the Republic and seated in Algiers, supervises the law.

Often combined with

Standards organisations pair with Law 18-07 (Algeria)

• ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021ADGM data protection compliance for entities under the 2021 Regulations: lawful bases, DPO, impact assessments, 72-hour breach notice and transfers, all-inclusive proposal.
• APEC CBPRAPEC CBPR certification and requirements explained: Global CBPR and PRP, Accountability Agent review, annual renewal and how Sterling prepares your team.
• APPI (Japan)APPI compliance for Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information: the requirements, PPC breach reporting, cross-border rules and an all-inclusive programme.
• Bahrain PDPLBahrain PDPL compliance and requirements explained: consent, notification to the Authority, transfers abroad, 72-hour breach reporting, rights, cost and timing.
• CCPA / CPRACCPA compliance and requirements under the CPRA: notices, consumer rights, opt-outs, risk assessments, cybersecurity audits and ADMT, in an all-inclusive programme.
• Cyber and Data Protection Act (Zimbabwe)Zimbabwe's Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07]: POTRAZ licensing, lawful processing, security and transfers, built into a programme.