The POPI Act and some of its implications

Are you one of those individuals who get annoyed by telemarketers constantly bombarding you with products you were never really interested to begin with? And have you ever wondered how they got your information? Well the soon to be tabled Protection of Personal Information Act also referred to as the POPI Act will soon be addressing such issues, but what does this mean for Higher Learning Institutions in terms of compliance? Here is an excerpt from the Bill itself:

To promote the protection of personal information processed by public and private

bodies; to introduce certain conditions so as to establish minimum requirements

for the processing of personal information; to provide for the establishment of an

Information Regulator to exercise certain powers and to perform certain duties

and functions in terms of this Act and the Promotion of Access to Information Act,

2000; to provide for the issuing of codes of conduct; to provide for the rights of

persons regarding unsolicited electronic communications and automated decision

making; to regulate the flow of personal information across the borders of the

Republic; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

 

Does this protection of information extend to the use of Social Media sites which may form part of Academic courses? To help you answer these and other related questions I would like to refer you to the following input on the subject:

• http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_ZA/za/marketsolutions/popi-act/index.htm

• http://www.sustainableit.co.za/regulatory-compliance/
  
• Latest version of POPI
  
• http://www.pwc.co.za/en/press-room/popi-requires-protection-of-information.jhtml
  
  
  While this act is excellent in terms of protecting the privacy of individual information the goal of having organisations compliant within a year after enactment seem a bit daunting.