Privacy Policies of Communication Companies in Egypt

• Ownership → Etisalat International Egypt Limited – UAE owns 66% of the capital, E-Investment – Egypt 20%, Tadas Holding 5%, Emirate DIFC LLC Limited, Saudi company for technical investments 1.5%, Emirates Nabuda for investment 1.5% and Emirates Resources for Finance – UAE 1%.
• Services provided by the company → Telecommunications services for mobile phones and the Internet.

How Etisalat deals with user data

  Access to the Privacy Policy: The Privacy Policy is publicly, comprehensively, and easily accessible.

    The company has a privacy policy posted on the website, but the policy is focused only on the company’s website and not all services. The policy does not provide enough information regarding the treatment of users

   Change of privacy policies :Companies commitment to inform users about changes in privacy policies..

Etisalat does not inform customers of change in privacy policies and does not provide a description of changes in policies.

  Data collection : the quality of data and information gathered by companies about users, and how this is done.

The Company requires, in accordance with a decision of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), to obtain a copy of the national ID while contracting the telecommunications services it provides, and therefore the Company has all the personal data of the users.

   For users using Etisalat to access various services, the Site’s Privacy Policy refers to a set of data collected from users, such as:

   The user’s IP address, the time and date of the user’s visit, the browser type used by the user, and links to any site connecting the user to the Etisalat site.

   The personal information provided by the customer for the various services of the site, including but not limited to the name, age, nationality of the customer, his / her ID number, telephone, fax number, address, e-mail, credit card details, account number, scientific level, occupation, income, interests and activities.

   Etisalat offers its customers the application of “My Etisalat” through which users can manage their account. This application has wide powers such as knowledge of applications on the phone, reading usage data, call lists, call history, SMS and geo-location based on GPS technology or approximate location Based on the network.

   Data sharing : the quality of data that companies share with third parties and purpose of sharing.

As stated on the Etisalat website in the Terms and Conditions section, the Company has the right to submit personal user data for use or storage by Etisalat, and for communications to be disclosed and transferred (both inside and outside the country) to Etisalat agents and contractors, any telecommunications operator and any third party Service providers, collection agencies, any credit review agencies, any security agencies, credit providers, banks, financial institutions, financial communications advisers, and any persons performing confidential communications or any actual or proposed entity with which Etisalat has the right to assign or determinethe use, disclosure, processing, retention or transfer of such personal data for the above purposes.

The Terms and Conditions section of the Company’s website states that the data is collected to help Etisalat maintain contact with the customer and process requests wherever possible, and the information can be used for marketing or quality assurance purposes.

  Data Retention :The length of time companies retain data collected from users, and their storage and protection mechanisms..

   Etisalat maintains customer data even after the suspension of transactions between the Company and the customer. The terms and conditions section provides that Etisalat will retain the data provided by the customer “through the Internet during the subscription period for a reasonable period after the end of the subscription.” There are no details about the protection of data stored at the company except that the policy of collection, use, storage, dissemination, transfer, security and access to personal data will be subject to the policy of data collection and protection on the Etisalat website as well as in accordance with the laws prevailing in the Arab Republic of Egypt. In addition, the Company makes no warranty that the use of the Etisalat Web site is protected against all viruses and exposure to risks.

  Users control their data : users’ access to their data, their collection and sharing.

    There is no possibility for users to control the sharing of their personal data with third parties.

Disclosure procedures :What procedures are used in case government entities request user data.

    The company does not provide clear information about procedures for government entities to request user data, except to stipulate that Etisalat may share personal data provided by users through the site to third parties including “any security agency”.

 Disclosure of requests for information :Transparency of companies in public disclosure of requests by government agencies to obtain user information and informing users..

The company does not disclose government requests for information about users.

  Communication security measures : policies and procedures followed by companies to secure communications and data storage.

    There are no details about the protection of data stored in the company except that the policy of collection, use, storage, dissemination, transfer, security and access to personal data will be subject to the policy of data collection and protection on the Etisalat website as well as in accordance with the laws prevailing in the Arab Republic of Egypt. In addition, the Company makes no warranty that the use of the Etisalat Web site is protected against all viruses and exposure to risks.

Other observations

In the “Terms and Conditions” section posted on the company’s website, it stipulates that users are required to comply with company rules while publishing digital content, which is a restriction on the freedom of digital expression, since in accordance with the law and the contractual terms between Etisalat and users, the responsibility lies with the user and not the service provider.

The texts are as follows:

• Not to publish, upload, disseminate any content or information of defamation, obscene, unlawful, inappropriate, or other illegal or illegitimate nature
• Non-breach of any good behavioral terms of respect of any of the telecommunications services.
• The client acknowledges, on his sole responsibility, that the recorded content conforms to religious concepts, customs, cultural fabric, Arab heritage and all applicable laws in the Arab Republic of Egypt, as well as his commitment not to use any offensive language, or to refer to any of the public figures and/or any of the competitors of Etisalat Egypt. The Client will never use any content that may directly or indirectly infringe any of the intellectual property rights of any third party, including but not limited to (images, sounds and/or songs). In this regard, the Customer undertakes to protect and defend Egypt Telecom against any claims/cases that may be brought against it due to its failure to comply with the foregoing obligations.