Privacy Policy

Introduction and Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how Hossam Adel Law Firm (“the Firm”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, shares, and protects your personal data when you visit https://hossamadellaw.com (in any of its language versions — English, Arabic, German, and French), including when you:

• browse legal articles and content published on the site;
• use the contact form or request a consultation;
• create an account, log in, or use the customer/account area;
• purchase legal books or digital (PDF) publications from our online shop;
• leave a comment on an article;
• interact with advertising displayed on the site (including Google AdSense ads).

This Policy applies to website visitors, clients, and registered users. It is separate from any engagement letter or retainer agreement you may sign with the Firm in relation to a specific matter, which may impose additional attorney-client confidentiality obligations not covered by this Policy.

1. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data collected through this website is:
Hossam Adel Law Firm
Address: Mansoura, Arab Republic of Egypt
Email: contact@hossamadellaw.com
Phone: +201080060717
The Firm is registered with the Egyptian Bar Association and licensed to practice law in the Arab Republic of Egypt in the name of Hossam Adel, under Egyptian Advocacy Law No. 17 of 1983 (as last amended on 8 July 2020), and is not a commercial entity subject to ordinary commercial registration. The processing of personal data through this website is subject to Egypt’s Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020 and its Executive Regulations, and other applicable Egyptian and international laws and regulations. All lawyers, consultants, and accountants working with the Firm inside Egypt are individually and officially registered with their own respective professional syndicates/bodies and licensed to practice, and are engaged with the Firm under a direct contractual relationship. Those who collaborate with the Firm from outside Egypt are either independent lawyers/consultants or contracted partners; their relationship with the Firm is governed by a contractual framework that safeguards the confidentiality of any data relating to a specific legal matter, separately from and outside the scope of this website, under the confidentiality rules of the Egyptian legal profession and applicable international agreements.

2. Official Contact Channels

For any privacy-related question or to exercise your data rights, you may contact us via:

• Email: contact@hossamadellaw.com
• Phone: +201080060717
• Postal address: Mansoura, Egypt
• The contact form on our Contact page

The Firm itself, as a legal institution with a full team of lawyers and consultants, handles data-protection enquiries directly (DPO) through the official contact channels above.

3. Applicable Legal Frameworks

Depending on your location and how you interact with the site, this Policy is drafted to align with:

• Egyptian Advocacy Law No. 17 of 1983, as last amended on 8 July 2020;
• Egypt’s Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020 and its Executive Regulations issued under Minister of Communications and Information Technology Decree No. 816 of 2025 (in force since 2 November 2025, with a transitional compliance period ending 1 November 2026);
• the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679, “GDPR”) for visitors and clients in the European Union;
• the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 for visitors and clients in the United Kingdom;
• Google’s Publisher Policies and Google’s EU User Consent Policy in respect of advertising served through Google AdSense;
• any other regulatory framework applicable in the countries where the Firm provides services (Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United States, the Gulf, the EU), as relevant to each specific engagement.

4. Data We Collect

Depending on how you interact with the website, we may collect:

• Identity and contact data: first and last name, email address, phone number (with country code), country of residence, billing/shipping address for purchases.
• Legal-consultation data: the subject and description of your enquiry submitted through the consultation-request form, and your preferred contact method (email, phone, WhatsApp, or Google Meet).
• Account data: username, password (stored hashed), order history, customer-area preferences.
• Purchase and payment data: cart contents, order details, the payment method selected (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Google Pay, InstaPay, Vodafone Cash, or Cash on Delivery), and payment status/confirmation. We do not store full card details on our own servers; these are processed directly by licensed third-party payment gateways (see Section 13).
• Comment data: any information entered in the comment form, together with your IP address and browser user agent string, used for spam detection and security.
• Automatically collected technical data: IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, referral source, and cookies as described in Section 14.
• Advertising data: through Google AdSense and any other advertising networks, advertising identifiers and non-personally-identifying browsing signals may be collected by Google and its advertising partners (see Section 15).

We do not intentionally request or process sensitive categories of data (health, religion, criminal records) through our forms, except to the extent you voluntarily disclose such information in describing your legal matter. Where this occurs, such information is handled with a heightened level of protection and used solely to provide the requested consultation.

5. How We Collect Data

• Directly from you: when you fill in a contact form, register an account, leave a comment, or complete a purchase.
• Automatically: through cookies and similar technologies as you browse the site.
• From third parties: such as payment providers (payment confirmation), Gravatar (to check for a profile image linked to your email when commenting), or advertising and measurement tools (including Google).

6. Purposes of Processing

We use your data to:

• respond to your enquiries and legal consultation requests and schedule appointments;
• manage your account and provide customer-area services;
• process, fulfil, and invoice purchases made through the shop;
• operate and moderate comments and prevent spam;
• maintain the security of the website and prevent fraud or misuse;
• comply with our legal, accounting, and tax obligations;
• improve site content and user experience using aggregated analytics;
• display relevant advertising (personalized or non-personalized, based on your consent) through Google AdSense and any other advertising networks;
• communicate with you through your chosen channel (including WhatsApp or Google Meet, where selected).

7. Legal Basis for Processing

For users subject to the GDPR or UK GDPR, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases recognized under the Regulation:

• Performance of a contract: to process purchases and deliver agreed legal services;
• Consent: for non-essential cookies, personalized advertising, and public display of comments;
• Legal obligation: to keep accounting and tax records;
• Legitimate interests: for site security, fraud prevention, and service improvement, balanced against your fundamental rights.

For users subject to Egypt’s Law No. 151/2020, explicit consent is the default legal basis for processing, alongside limited exceptions such as necessity for performing a contractual obligation in the data subject’s interest, carrying out a legal procedure, or protecting a vital interest of the data subject.

8. Sharing Data with Third Parties

We do not sell your personal data to any third party. We may share limited data, on a need-to-know basis, with:

• our website hosting and technical infrastructure providers;
• electronic payment gateways and processors (Visa/Mastercard via our payment provider, PayPal, Google Pay, InstaPay, Vodafone Cash);
• the Gravatar service (Automattic), to check for a profile image linked to a commenter’s email — Gravatar’s privacy policy;
• our email and contact-form service providers;
• Google, if you choose to be contacted via Google Meet, or through AdSense advertising and measurement tools;
• Meta/WhatsApp, if you choose to be contacted via WhatsApp;
• judicial or regulatory authorities, where required by law or a valid court order.

9. Processors and Service Providers

The website relies on external service providers (processors acting on our behalf) for certain technical functions, most notably our hosting provider, Hostinger, whose servers are located outside Egypt (see Section 17 — International Data Transfers — for the detailed legal implications of this). The website also relies on additional technical service providers for certain other functions (such as contact forms, account management, and measurement tools, where applicable), whose precise technical identities are not disclosed here for website security reasons, to avoid facilitating attempts at unauthorized access. These providers are recorded in an internal register of processors maintained by the Firm, each bound by a Data Processing Agreement requiring protection standards at least equivalent to this Policy, in line with the requirements of Egyptian Law No. 151/2020 and the GDPR regarding the relationship with processors.
Important note on official communication channels (email, WhatsApp Business, Google Meet): when you contact us through these channels and send documents or case details, that data comes into the Firm’s possession as “controller,” even though it is not stored on the website’s own server. Accordingly, the Firm is required to secure its official email account, WhatsApp Business account, and Google Workspace/Meet account to a standard consistent with applicable data protection law; the fact that this data is not stored on the website server does not exempt the Firm from its legal obligations as controller of that data.

10. Comments on Articles

When you leave a comment on a legal article, we collect the information provided in the comment form, plus your IP address and browser user agent string, to help detect spam and maintain security.
A hashed version of your email address may be sent to the Gravatar service to check whether you have a linked profile image; once your comment is approved, that image may be publicly displayed alongside it. Comments are enabled on the site’s articles.

11. Contact and Consultation-Request Forms

The website provides a contact form requesting: first and last name, email, phone number with country code, country of residence, subject, enquiry details, and your preferred contact method (email / phone / WhatsApp / Google Meet).
This data is used solely to respond to your enquiry and provide the requested consultation. If you select WhatsApp as your preferred contact method, your phone number and the content of the conversation will be exchanged over the WhatsApp platform, owned by Meta, and will also be subject to WhatsApp/Meta’s privacy policy. Similarly, if you select Google Meet, the meeting will be scheduled using Google’s tools, and the associated data (your email address, meeting time) will be subject to Google’s privacy policy.

12. Accounts, Login, and Membership

The website allows you to create an account and access a customer area to track orders and manage your registered personal data. You can view, edit, or delete your data from within your account at any time (except your username); the administration team may retain certain information for legal, operational, or security reasons.

13. Online Shop, Purchase, and Payment Data

The website sells legal and religious books and digital (PDF) publications through an online shop (WooCommerce), in multiple currencies based on the official exchange rate and the banking policies of the contracted payment service providers. When you complete a purchase at Checkout, we collect billing/shipping details, order information, and your selected payment method from: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Google Pay, InstaPay, Vodafone Cash, or Cash on Delivery.
Payment data is processed by licensed third-party payment gateways; our website does not store full card numbers or sensitive payment details on its own servers. Returns and refunds are governed by a separate policy — see our Refund and Returns Policy.
Local payment methods (Visa, Mastercard, InstaPay, Vodafone Cash, Google Pay) are processed through the Paymob payment gateway, while international payments are processed through PayPal. Both Paymob and PayPal act as independent controllers with respect to the data they process for their own purposes (identity verification, fraud prevention, banking compliance) — they are not simply processors acting on the Firm’s instructions. Please review Paymob’s privacy policy and PayPal’s privacy policy to understand how each handles your financial data directly.
We comply with the applicable laws in this respect, including Egyptian Law No. 151/2020 and the GDPR, regarding the selection and management of payment service providers.
That said, our website’s actual role in the payment process is limited to acting as a routing interface that redirects you directly to the independent, encrypted environment of the payment provider (Paymob or PayPal); our website does not itself collect or store any complete payment data. The actual processing of financial data, its security, and compliance with banking standards (such as PCI DSS) fall entirely within the technical and regulatory remit of the payment provider, as a licensed entity supervised by the competent banking and financial authorities. Accordingly, any security incident occurring exclusively within the payment provider’s own technical systems after you have been redirected to it, and without any technical involvement from our website, is a matter of joint and several responsibility between the Firm and the payment provider, apportioned according to each party’s role and actual degree of fault in the incident, given that the provider is the actual holder and direct processor of that data. We recommend that you review the privacy policy and terms of use of Paymob and PayPal directly.

14. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

• Strictly necessary cookies: to operate the cart, checkout, and login (login cookies last two days, “Remember Me” cookies last two weeks, screen-option cookies last one year).
• Functional cookies: if you opt to save your name, email, and website in the comment form (lasting one year), or a cookie storing the post ID while editing (one day, containing no personal data).
• Advertising/marketing cookies: relating to advertising served through Google AdSense and any other advertising networks — see the next section.

You can manage or delete cookie preferences at any time through your browser settings. Please see our Cookie Policy page.

15. Advertising on the Website and Digital Ad Networks

The website currently displays advertising through Google AdSense, and may use additional digital advertising networks or platforms in the future. The following principles apply to any third-party advertising displayed on the site, regardless of the specific platform:

• the site complies with the publisher policies of each advertising network it works with, including Google AdSense’s Publisher Policies, and any similar requirements imposed by other networks;
• advertising networks (including Google and its partners) use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your visits to this site or other websites, and to analyze ad performance;
• you can opt out of personalized advertising via Google Ads Settings or aboutads.info, or the opt-out tools of any other advertising network we use;
• for visitors from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, we comply with Google’s EU User Consent Policy and its equivalent for other networks, using a Consent Management Platform (CMP) integrated with the IAB TCF, which blocks non-essential advertising code until you give explicit consent;
• for visitors from Egypt, where explicit consent is the default legal basis for processing under Law No. 151/2020, the same consent-gating mechanism applies before any advertising tracking code is activated;
• when the website displays third-party ads to generate revenue (such as AdSense), the advertising network is responsible for processing the data of the visitors who receive the ad under its own policies; when the Firm runs its own promotional campaigns via any platform (such as Google Ads or others), the Firm is responsible for obtaining your consent before activating the relevant tracking code, while the platform (Google or otherwise) remains responsible for securing your data once it reaches its servers;
• browsing the website alone does not constitute consent to any advertising activity; consent is collected exclusively through the CMP tool active on the site.

16. Data Retention

We retain your data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected:

• Account data: for as long as your account remains active, deleted or anonymized within a reasonable period after a deletion request or account closure, unless the law requires otherwise.
• Order and invoice data: retained for 5 years from the date of the transaction, the internationally recognized standard for accounting and invoice records and consistent with commercial bookkeeping rules, after which it is deleted or anonymized unless a longer period is required by a specific legal obligation or to establish, exercise, or defend a legal claim.
• Comments and their metadata: retained indefinitely for moderation and follow-up purposes, unless deletion is requested.
• Consultation-request data: for as long as necessary to respond to the enquiry, and for a further reasonable period if the enquiry develops into an actual legal engagement (in which case retention follows the rules applicable to legal files and professional confidentiality).

17. International Data Transfers

Because the Firm provides services across multiple countries, and some of the technical service providers we rely on (such as our website hosting service) are based outside the Arab Republic of Egypt, your data may be processed or stored internationally as a normal part of operating the website. We are committed to complying with Egypt’s Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020 and its Executive Regulations in this respect, and, for users subject to the GDPR or UK GDPR, to relying on recognized legal mechanisms for international data transfers, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or applicable adequacy decisions.
Where relevant, and specifically regarding the use of non-essential cookies or personalized advertising connected with such transfers, we obtain your prior explicit consent through the Consent Management Platform active on the website, which allows you to freely accept or decline these activities before they are activated.

18. Data Security

We apply reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data against unauthorized access, loss, alteration, or unlawful disclosure, including: encrypted connections (HTTPS/SSL), periodic security updates, and access to data restricted to authorized staff and collaborators only.
In the event of a security breach affecting your data, we are committed to notifying the competent supervisory authority within the legally required timeframes, and to notifying you directly whenever required by law or where the breach poses a high risk to your rights.

19. Your Rights Over Your Data

Regardless of which law applies to your situation, you generally have the right to:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure: request deletion of your data, subject to legal exceptions (e.g., tax or accounting retention obligations, or an ongoing legal file).
• Object: object to processing carried out for direct marketing purposes, or on grounds relating to your particular situation where we rely on legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent: withdraw any previously given consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
• Restriction: request that we restrict processing of your data in specific circumstances.
• Data portability: request your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, or its transfer to another controller, where technically and legally feasible.
• Lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority (see Sections 21 and 22).

Additional Clarification: The Right to Erasure Applies to Every Category of Website User

To reinforce the erasure right described in point 3 above, the right to request deletion of personal data is available to anyone who interacts with the website in any capacity, whether you are:

• a casual visitor who filled in the contact form or requested a consultation without creating an account;
• a commenter who left a comment on an article;
• a registered member with an active account or customer area;
• a customer who completed a purchase through the online shop.

In every case, you may request deletion of your personal data in one of two ways:

1. Self-service: if you have a registered account, you may delete your account and its data directly from your customer area (My Account), or request deletion of a specific comment by contacting the site’s editor.
2. Direct request: by emailing contact@hossamadellaw.com, stating that you are requesting deletion of all your personal data, and including the email address or phone number you used when interacting with the site, so that we can verify your identity.

We will delete or anonymize your data within the applicable legal timeframe from the date your identity is verified, except for any data we are required to retain under a legal obligation (such as tax invoice records) or to establish, exercise, or defend an existing legal claim (such as an active case file or ongoing engagement). In such cases, we will explicitly tell you which data was not deleted and the specific legal ground for retaining it, rather than issuing a blanket refusal without justification.

20. How to Exercise Your Rights and Lodge Complaints

To exercise any of the rights above, please contact us at contact@hossamadellaw.com, describing the nature of your request. We may ask you to verify your identity before acting on the request, to protect your data from misuse, and we will respond within the applicable legal timeframe (generally within one month under the GDPR, extendable in complex cases, or within the period set out in the Executive Regulations of Egyptian Law No. 151/2020).

21. Notice for EU Users

Because the Firm may offer services to clients within the European Union, our processing of EU visitors’ and clients’ data may fall within the extraterritorial scope of the GDPR, insofar as the site may offer services to individuals in the Union.
The Firm works, where relevant, with lawyers, consultants, or collaborating partners within the European Union to support its clients there. Each such relationship is governed by a separate legal agreement or contract regulating the scope of cooperation, confidentiality, and data protection, under the laws governing that agreement or contract.
EU users have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in their country of residence or habitual place of work. If any problem or breach arises that constitutes an offence under law and has not been resolved through an agreement or settlement via the Firm’s own official channels or those of its partners, you have the right to bring the matter before the competent judicial or supervisory authorities to file a formal report or complaint.

22. Notice for UK Users

Processing of UK visitors’ data is subject to the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. UK users have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO (ico.org.uk). If any problem or breach arises that constitutes an offence under law and has not been resolved through an agreement or settlement via the Firm’s own official channels or those of its partners, you have the right to bring the matter before the competent judicial or supervisory authorities in the United Kingdom, including filing a report with the relevant authorities in addition to a complaint to the ICO.

Section 22A: Notice for United States Users

If you interact with the website from the United States, we confirm the following:

• We do not sell your personal data, nor do we “share” it for valuable consideration with any third party for commercial purposes.
• Depending on your jurisdiction (such as the California Consumer Privacy Act/CPRA, or similar laws in states such as Virginia and Colorado), you have the right to know what data has been collected about you, to request its deletion or correction, and to object to any “sale or sharing” of your data, without discrimination or adverse treatment for exercising these rights.
• Whether these specific laws apply to the Firm’s activities depends on the scale and nature of its data processing (the revenue/data-volume thresholds set out in each law); we adhere to these principles as a baseline of transparency regardless of whether such thresholds are met.
• To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@hossamadellaw.com.

23. Children’s Privacy

This website is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from individuals below the legal age of majority without parental consent where required by law (including the specific conditions for children under 15 and between 15–18 under the Executive Regulations of Egyptian Law No. 151/2020). If we become aware that we have collected a minor’s data without the required consent, we will take immediate steps to delete it.

24. External Links and Social Media

The website may include embedded content from other sites (such as YouTube videos) and links to the Firm’s profiles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and YouTube. These platforms are governed by their own privacy policies, and the Firm is not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. Any client testimonials or reviews published on the site are published with the reviewer’s consent.

25. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy periodically to reflect legal, technical, or operational changes (such as the activation of additional advertising networks). The “last updated” date at the top of this page will be revised accordingly, and we encourage you to review it periodically. Material changes will be clearly announced on the website or by email where required by law.

26. Governing Language and Applicable Law

Governing language: the Arabic and English versions of this Policy are the official versions and are together binding as a bilingual document. The French and German versions are provided as a courtesy translation for the convenience of French- and German-speaking clients. In the event of any discrepancy in interpretation between the versions, the Arabic and English versions shall prevail.
Applicable law and jurisdiction: this Policy and any dispute arising from it are governed primarily by Egyptian law, without prejudice to any mandatory provisions in force for the benefit of users resident in other jurisdictions (such as mandatory consumer-protection or data-protection rules in the EU or UK) which cannot be contractually waived. The competent Egyptian courts shall have jurisdiction over any dispute, unless the law applicable in another jurisdiction grants its own courts exclusive jurisdiction over users resident there.

For any question regarding this Policy, please contact:
Hossam Adel Law Firm — contact@hossamadellaw.com — +201080060717