The Extraterritorial Application of European Union Data Protection Law

Abstract

This paper will examine the extraterritorial application of European Union Law regarding the Internet in three particular cases that exemplify a current trend and make apparent the advantages and challenges of this approach. The examples relate to the protection of personal data and, in particular, the scope of the General Data Protection Regulation, the right to be forgotten and cross-border access to electronic evidence. The paper will end with some recommendations on how to avoid the problems that the extraterritorial application of the law in this field may entail.

Investigating the efficacy of the Egyptian Data Protection Law on Media Freedom: Journalists’ perceptions

“…After a long and intense reform, the European Union (EU) adopted the new Regulation 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regards to the processing of personal data and the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 as a free movement of such data [general data protection regulation (GDPR) (Gascón, 2019).…”

“…While comparing with the General Data Protection Regulation and Egyptian data protection law, the GDPR aims to follow the directive and reinforce the data subjects' rights in a digitalised and evolutive environment for them to regain control over their personal data. In addition, to create legal certainty and sustainability of the data protection measures in a technologically neutral approach (Gascón, 2019). While Egyptian data protection law, which mandates individuals or journalists to "get permission from the judicial authority" also the law imposes an array of sanctions against entities and individuals that commit crimes related to personal data.…”