Protection of personal information must be enforced in SA
A summit in Sandton has heard that South Africa is 31 years behind Britain in the implementation of personal information laws.
Britain was the first to implement the legislation in 1985.
Dr Peter Tobin has been speaking at an Xperien event.
The company specialises in IT-asset disposal and data destruction.
Tobin says the Protection of Personal Information Act was passed in 2013 but more enforcement is needed.
He feels that Standard Bank's recent R300-million loss due to hacking is exactly the kind of thing the act aims to avoid protecting individual clients, businesses and the country.
"It's got big implications because the Act allows people like you, me and the man on the street to understand much more about the information that is being collected about them, to get their name on the street, the opportunity to get consent, to understand the purpose and to ask questions about how securely the information is being held," he said.