The Data Brokers - {The Egyptian Explained}

 

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Data & Privacy Agreement

There is this privacy agreement we all click on when visiting a website or consenting to share data related to our internet usage. Most of us don’t read the details—we just tick the box and move on, eager to continue browsing. But behind this routine action lies a broader issue of data-trading, particularly evident in Egypt.

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Egypt’s Data Brokers

In Egypt, there are unofficial yet very active methods of data-trading, especially when it comes to mobile phone numbers. You might give your number once—perhaps while filling out a form or making a purchase—and soon enough, that number begins its "life cycle" in the sales and promotions world.

Your number likely ends up with a data broker, and suddenly you’re receiving incessant calls from real estate companies trying to sell properties far beyond your budget. And it doesn’t stop at one company. Your contact information circulates across a network of companies, each one using it to push its own projects.

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Beyond Real Estate: A Network of Sales and Appeals

The data-trading in Egypt goes beyond real estate. Your number could be shared with:

• Philanthropic networks, promoting humanitarian causes or fundraising drives

• Retailers and service providers, offering discounts and promotional messages

• Call centers, running surveys or product testing campaigns

• And in more troubling cases, fraudsters, impersonating known entities to promote imaginary offers or scams

These actors tap into informal data networks where a single piece of data—your phone number—is passed along, shared, and resold multiple times without your consent.

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The Call Script: “So, Are You Interested?”

Typically, these calls follow a predictable script. They start by confirming your name, as listed on the call sheet in front of the agent. This is followed by a brief introduction about the NGO, company, or cause they represent. And then comes the ever-familiar line:

“So, are you interested?”

If you ask where they got your number, most call-center agents will say it’s outside their scope. They don't know the source—they were simply handed a list and tasked with calling every number on it. The source of the data remains shadowy and untraceable.

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Sold Data and Social Normalization

The troubling part is not only that our data is being sold—but that this has become socially normalized. In Egypt, many have accepted that data-trading is just a part of daily life. People joke about the constant sales calls or ignore them altogether, as if being sold is simply inevitable.

Yet, the fact that our data holds enough value to be traded speaks volumes. Data is valuable, which is why it’s sold—but not everyone treats it as such. This normalization may have desensitized the public, but it doesn’t make the issue any less serious.

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Final Thought

The bottom line is clear: our data is not just ours anymore. It is bought, sold, passed around, and used for countless purposes—some legitimate, some questionable. The next time you give out your number or click “I Agree” without reading, just remember:

Your data might already be on a journey—one you didn’t choose.