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POPI becomes law

27th November 2013

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President Jacob Zuma signed the Protection of Personal Information Bill (“POPI”) into law on the 27th November 2013. The actual commencement date of the Act is still to be determined by the President in the Government Gazette. From this date, organisations will have one year to demonstrate compliance with the legislation.

According to KPMG’s POPI specialist, Mark Craddock, the risks associated with failing to implement adequate and effective information protection controls are not merely theoretical. “Over the past year a number of high profile organisations have suffered significant reputational damage as a result of personal information breaches,” says Craddock.

Globally there have been a record number of personal information breaches, with financial institutions being most heavily impacted. It is therefore critical for organisations that process large amounts of personal information to initiate organisation-wide privacy programmes in order to minimise reputational damage and exposure to potentially hefty fines such as those currently being imposed by Regulators in other jurisdictions.

Craddock states that the key to successful implementation lies in identifying potential risk areas within business that require early attention or action in order to be materially compliant with POPI legislation. “The consequences of non-compliance could include regulatory fines and even prison sentences so it is in the best interests of oorganisations to perform an assessment of their current level of compliance to the provisions of the POPI Act sooner rather than later,” explains Craddock.

The act aims to give effect to the constitutional right to privacy by introducing measures to ensure that organisations process personal information in a fair, responsible and secure manner.  Global trends show that getting privacy right is important to ensure that customers trust organisations.

One of the objectives of the Bill is to address the currently fragmented approach to information protection regulation by introducing a general information protection statute. However, the enactment of POPI adds further complexity to what is an already convoluted legislative and regulatory business environment in South Africa. Understanding how to navigate this environment requires deep knowledge of legal, business, compliance and Information Technology (IT).

Complying with the act extends beyond legal interpretation. Practical implementation that compliments the legal interpretation is the challenge. “It’s one thing to have legal interpretation on POPI, however without a cohesive practical implementation plan which aligns to the legal opinion, the opinion is without value to the organisation,” concludes Craddock.

For more information around the Protection of Personal Information Act, contact Mark Craddock

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