Algeria has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Algeria has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Algeria has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Pursuant to Art. 30 of Law No. 18-07, individuals and organisations that want to acquire and use encryption services must be granted authorisation by the country's Regulatory Authority of Post and Electronic Communications.

It is reported that Algeria imposes a maximum limit of DZD 100,000 (approx. USD 745) per transaction on citizens when using international credit cards to purchase goods from abroad.

According to Arts. 7 and 8 of Law No. 18-05, any e-commerce activity, which is defined as electronic commerce of goods and services, is subject to registration in the commercial register or in the register of arts and crafts, and to the publication of a website hosted in Algeria with extension ".com.dz". In addition, pursuant to Art. 9, the exercise of the e-commerce activity be subject to the registration of the domain name with the services of the National Center of the Commercial Register. This requirement applies to both domestic and foreign e-providers, as stated in Art. 2 of the law, stipulating that the legislation applies to e-commerce transactions when one of the parties to the e-commerce contract (i) is of Algerian nationality, (ii) is legally resident in Algeria, (iii) is a legal person under Algerian law, (iv) or if the contract is concluded or performed in Algeria.

Art. 27 of Law No. 18-05 stipulates that electronic payments must be conducted through dedicated payment platforms. These platforms are to be exclusively established and managed by banks that have received approval from the Bank of Algeria, as well as by Algérie Poste. The platforms must be connected to any type of electronic payment terminal via the network of the public telecommunications operator. In addition, Art. 29 mandates that the electronic payment platforms undergo oversight by the Bank of Algeria. This supervision is to ensure compliance with standards for interoperability, confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and the security of data exchanges.

It is reported that Algerian foreign exchange regulations prohibit the use of online payment processors for transferring funds between accounts.

It is reported that the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is DZD 50,000 (approx. USD 383), above the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Art. 6 of Decree No. 20-332 establishes that the online information activity is subject to the publication through an electronic site, whose hosting is exclusively domiciled, physically and logically in Algeria, with a domain name extension ".dz".

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.

Pursuant to Art. 4.2 of Law No. 18-07, in the event that the controller is not established in the national territory, a representative located in Algeria must be appointed. This requirement applies to foreign service providers in Algeria, as defined in Art. 3 as any public or private entity that offers users of its services the possibility to communicate by means of a computer system and/or a telecommunications system.

Reports indicate that, over the past eight years, Algerian authorities have imposed nationwide internet shutdowns to "prevent cheating" during national baccalaureate exams. Most recently, in June 2024, the government reportedly cut off internet access across the entire country for four days during the high school examination period. In addition, the indicator "7.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 2 in Algeria for the year 2024. This corresponds to "The government shut down domestic access to the Internet several times this year."

According to Arts. 7-8 of Law No. 18-05, any e-commerce activity, which is defined as electronic commerce of goods and services, is subject to registration in the commercial register or in the register of arts and crafts, and to the publication of a website hosted in Algeria with extension ".com.dz". In addition, Art. 9 requires that the exercise of the e-commerce activity be subject to the registration of the domain name with the services of the National Center of the Commercial Register. This requirement applies to both domestic and foreign e-providers, as stated in Art. 2 of the law, stipulating that the legislation applies to e-commerce transactions when one of the parties to the e-commerce contract is of Algerian nationality, is legally resident in Algeria, is a legal person under Algerian law, or if the contract is concluded or performed in Algeria.

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.