Algiers, November 24, 2025 – The head of the National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data, Samir Bourhil, has emphasized that personal data has become the currency of our time, arguably the most valuable resource in the global digital economy.
Speaking at the opening of a study day held at the Aurassi Hotel, themed “Protecting Personal Data in the Context of Digital Transformation, Cybersecurity, and Artificial Intelligence,” Bourhil stated that “the issue of protecting personal data concerns everyone. It is intrinsically linked to the personal and digital identity of each individual and has become a crucial aspect of national sovereignty, intersecting rights and freedoms with technology and the economy.”
Bourhil explained that “most transactions and services now rely on the collection, analysis, and processing of personal data for various commercial, health, security, electoral, and administrative purposes. This makes individuals unprecedentedly exposed to multiple parties who may handle their data without their knowledge, consent, or respect for their fundamental rights.”
He affirmed that this data represents “a strategic resource upon which economic, administrative, and security decisions are based, making its protection a legal, ethical, and societal necessity, reflecting the extent to which institutions respect citizens’ rights to privacy and information security.”
Bourhil added that Law No. 18-07, dated June 10, 2018, establishes a comprehensive national legal framework to ensure effective protection of personal data. It sets out the general principles governing the collection, storage, processing, or transfer of such data, thus balancing the requirements of digital transformation with the preservation of citizens’ fundamental rights, particularly the right to privacy and control over their personal data.
Furthermore, he revealed that the law established an independent national authority with broad powers in licensing, inspection, investigation, receiving complaints, and proposing recommendations. This, he noted, “expresses the state’s commitment to making data protection part of a comprehensive public policy to protect rights and freedoms in the digital environment.”
