PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION ACT
The enforcement grace period for POPIA-compliance ended by 1 July 2021, but many organisations still have to get their compliance in order and it will remain an ongoing process. It is more important then ever to attain internal knowledge and skills relating to data privacy, and to be able to evaluate and addresss privacy risks on a continuous basis.
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Our approach is to educate organisations about the required steps towards POPIA compliance and to assist them in achieving these goals through a combination of training, legal guidance and practical support.
POPIA demands that organisations implement strict data processing standards to ensure the privacy and security of personal information. Penalties for non-compliance are hefty, and organisations can also be sued for damages by data subjects whose personal information has been compromised.
The purpose of the POPI Act is to ensure that institutions and individuals conduct themselves in a responsible manner when collecting, processing, storing and sharing another person's or entity's personal information, by holding them accountable should they abuse or compromise personal information in any way.
This means that an organisation or 'responsible party' must determine the purpose and means for the collection and processing of personal information; only process the minimum personal information necessary to achieve that purpose; and keep the information secure.
In order to achieve these objectives, an Information Regulator has been established that is empowered to monitor and enforce compliance with the Act.
Organisations also have to appoint an Information Officer (by default this is the Head of the organisation), who has to be registered with the Information Regulator, and who is responsible for compliance with the Act.
We have developed various support options and training workshops to assist clients in this regard.
If you want to know more about this, please contact us by clicking on the button below.
We have a collection of online informational documents below - some are free, or find out about the cost and how to order by contacting us as indicated above.
Also scroll through our curated SMARTLIST with up-to-date articles about POPIA and related matters from various reputable sources.