The Assembly of People’s Representatives examines a bill on the protection of personal data, aimed at establishing a modern legal framework in accordance with international standards and creating a new independent regulatory authority.
Modernize the existing legal framework
The fundamental bill relating to the protection of personal data was submitted by the ORP office last Wednesday, to the Committee on Rights and Freedoms for Study. Composed of 132 articles divided into six chapters, the text intends to modernize the existing legal framework, deemed obsolete and unsuitable for current technological changes.
The text provides for the creation of a personal data protection authority, an independent public entity with legal personality and administrative and financial autonomy. It will be placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Communication Technologies and made up of judges, ministerial representatives and experts in the digital field.
The failure of the current legal framework
The authors of the project justify this reform by the failure of the current legal framework, inherited from the law of 2004, to respond to the challenges of artificial intelligence, biometrics, video surveillance or the cross -border processing of data.
They also denounce the prolonged inaction of the current national authority for the protection of personal data, unable to fulfill its mission or impose sanctions.
Tunisia could not maintain its advance
Tunisia, a pioneer in the Arab world in terms of personal data legislation in 2004, could not maintain its lead. The institutional vacuum, the absence of regulation on the sensitive sectors (press, AI, surveillance, etc.), as well as non-compliance with international standards (EU, UN, African initiatives) have weakened its position on the digital scene.
