Law 18-07 provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Algeria. It establishes general personal data protection requirements such as express consent, data processing notifications, data subject rights, and restrictions on direct marketing and data transfers.

Art. 11 of Law No. 09-04 requires communication service providers to store, for a period of one year after the registration, data allowing the identification of users of their services and data enabling the recipient(s) of the communication to be identified as well as the addresses of the sites visited. This requirement covers all service providers, defined in Art. 2 to include any public or private entity which offers users the possibility of communicating by means of a computer system and/or a telecommunications system; and any other entity processing or storing computer data for communication services or their users.

According to Art. 3 of Law No. 09-04, subject to the legal provisions guaranteeing the secrecy of correspondence and communications, implementation of technical devices carrying out operations of surveillance of electronic communications, collection and recording in real time of their content as well as searches and seizures in a computer system may be carried out for purposes of protection of public order, for investigations or after judicial request. Art. 4 lists instances when such surveillance may be carried out, including:
- to prevent offences qualified as terrorist or subversive acts and offences against State security;
- when there is information on a probable attack on a computer system representing a threat to public order, national defence, State institutions or the national economy;
- for the purposes of investigations and judicial information when it is difficult to arrive at results relevant to the research in progress without resorting to electronic surveillance;
- in connection with the execution of requests for international legal assistance.

Law No. 09-04 of 14, laying down special rules relating to the prevention and fight against offences related to information and communication technologies, establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries for copyright infringements. According to Art. 12 of the Law, internet service providers are required to intervene, without delay, to remove the content to which they authorise access in the event of a violation of the laws, store it or make it inaccessible as soon as they become aware of it directly or indirectly.

Law No. 09-04 of 14, laying down special rules relating to the prevention and fight against offences related to information and communication technologies, establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries for copyright infringements. According to Art. 12 of the Law, internet service providers are required to intervene, without delay, to remove the content to which they authorise access in the event of a violation of the laws, store it or make it inaccessible as soon as they become aware of it directly or indirectly.

Art. 11 of Law No. 09-04 requires communication service providers to store data allowing the identification of users of their services for a period of one year after the registration. This requirement covers all service providers, defined in Art. 2 to include any public or private entity which offers users of its services the possibility of communicating by means of a computer system and/or a telecommunications system and any other entity processing or storing computer data for communication services or their users.

Algeria has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments as it is not a member of the WTO.

It is reported that the Regulatory Authority of Post and Electronic Communications (ARPCE), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Chapter 3 of Law No. 22-18 establishes the Algerian Agency for Investment Promotion. The Agency, among other activities, should ensure that the investors comply with the legislation in force and the standards relating, in particular, to the environment and public health protection, to competition, work and transparency of accounting, tax and financial information (Art. 15). The controls are done both before the investment (during recording and processing of investment files) and after (during monitoring of investment projects).
It is also reported that initial foreign investments remain subject to approvals from a host of ministries that cover the proposed project, most often the Ministries of Commerce, Health, Industry and Pharmaceutical Production, Energy and Mines, Telecommunications and Post, and Industry. Moreover, companies have reported that certain high-profile industrial proposals, such as for automotive assembly, are subject to informal approval by the Prime Minister.

The last paragraph of Art. 44 of Law No. 18-07 forbids, in any case, the communication or transfer of personal data to a foreign country when this transfer is likely to carry harm to public security or the vital interests of the state.

Art. 6 of Decision No. 48/SP/PC/ARPT/17 provides that any natural or legal person wishing to establish and/or operate a service for the hosting and storage of computerised content for the benefit of remote users, within the framework of so-called cloud computing services, shall submit an application to the Regulatory Authority. Any legal entity wishing to establish and/or operate such a service must be incorporated under Algerian law and have its registered office in Algeria.

Art. 8 of the Law No. 18-05 requires any e-commerce activity, which is defined as electronic commerce in goods and services, to have a website hosted in Algeria with a “.com.dz” extension. This requirement applies to both domestic and foreign e-suppliers as clarified in Art. 2, which states the legislation applies to e-commerce transactions where one of the parties to the e-commerce contract is of Algerian nationality, or legally resides in Algeria, or a legal person governed by Algerian law, or if the contract is concluded or performed in Algeria. Effectively, this means that the requirement to have domain names hosted in Algeria also applies to foreign companies.

Art. 20 of Ordinance No. 03-07 stipulates that, in the absence of a reciprocal agreement, patent applicants residing abroad are required to appoint a representative before the competent authority.

Art. 10 of Decision No. 48/SP/PC/ARPT/17 stipulates that in the course of carrying out the activity covered by its authorisation to establish and operate hosting and storage services for computerised content, the "service provider" is obliged to guarantee that customer data is hosted and stored on national territory and to guarantee a backup solution for data hosted or stored. The term "service provider" is defined as any natural or legal person who has been granted authorisation to establish and operate hosting and storage services for computerised content for the benefit of remote users as part of cloud computing services, in compliance with the requirements set out in the legislation and regulations in force.

It is reported that Algeria fails to ensure the provision of adequate judicial remedies in instances of patent infringement.