With the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) now in full effect, it is imperative for all organisations dealing with personal information to be even more committed to protect personal information.
What Is Personal Information?
Personal information is defined by POPIA as any information that can be used to identify you as a person (whether natural or juristic). Examples include identity numbers, account numbers, telephone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses and other unique identifiers.
Background Of The Act.
The protection of personal information has its genealogy from historically unjust occurrences relating to information abuse, such as the apartheid laws and thereby, the Act is premised in Section 14 of the Constitution, which regulates unrestricted access to and abuse of personal information.
Confusing On Implementation Of Provisions.
Ever since the Act was signed into law on 19 November 2013 and the provisions of ss 2-38, ss55 – 109, s111, s114(1), (2) and (3), s110 and s114(4) only being implemented on 30 June 2021.
Confusion has been widespread insofar Section 58(2) of the Act was concerned. Section 58(2) deals with the processing activities that have been notified to the Information Regulator for prior authorisation and has since been suspended until 1 February 2022.
Further to the above, some technical difficulties have also been experienced by responsible parties in the online registration portal of Information officers and Deputy Information officers. This, in turn, means that as a result, no responsible party shall be held liable for not registering an Information officer before 30 June 2021. It flows then that although no deadline has been made as to when Information Officers should be registered, it should be borne in mind that responsible parties should register as soon as reasonably possible in order to become compliant with the Act.
Contact your nearest SEESA office for assistance with the POPI Act, alternatively leave your contact details on our website.
About The Author:
Avian May started her career at SEESA on the 1st of January 2021 and is currently a Legal Advisor at SEESA’s George branch. He obtained his LLB degree from the University of the Western Cape in 2016 and was admitted as an attorney in 2020.
References:
Protection of Personal Information POPIA | POPI Act