The Protection of Personal Information Act will commence on July 1, 2021
Here are all the important things you need to know regarding the POPI Act and how it is applicable to you on a personal level and to your business/organisation.
Have you ever received unsolicited marketing SMSs or had someone share something that you had shared with them in confidence? The POPI (The Protection of Personal Information) Act aims to protect your right to privacy and control how people consume your personal information.
The law is applicable in businesses or organisations in terms of having the company's information - employees personal information, strategies, history etc. - protected with an appointed Information Officer, who will be the person liable should anything regarding this information occur.
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The act also allows you the right to know who has your personal information in terms of how they received it or why they need your personal information, as well how long they will be using your personal information, should that be a factor.
An example could be that you entered a competition and filled in a form that required your information. When you win, the competition may write on their social media pages or website this information. POPI Act gives you the right to ask for the information to be shared for a period of time only. What you can also do if you are uncomfortable is to ask that they do not consume your personal information at all.
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This act also has laws applicable to social media and your privacy in that space and how little/how much you have control over what you share. The commercial Executive at Workforce, Jeandie Leone, explains further:
According to POPIA website, the purpose of this act is to —
- give effect to the constitutional right to privacy, by safeguarding personal information when processed by a responsible party, subject to justifiable limitations that are aimed at — balancing the right to privacy against other rights, particularly the right of access to information; and protecting important interests, including the free flow of information within the Republic and across international borders;
- regulate the manner in which personal information may be processed, by establishing conditions, in harmony with international standards, that prescribe the minimum threshold requirements for the lawful processing of personal information;
- provide persons with rights and remedies to protect their personal information from processing that is not in accordance with this act; and
- establish voluntary and compulsory measures, including the establishment of an Information Regulator, to ensure respect for and to promote, enforce and fulfil the rights protected by this act.
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For further understanding of the POPI Act, you can visit their website.
Like Leone shared, it is a lengthy document, but if you are truly interested to engage with the Act and read more to share with others in your company or circle of friends, simply go onto the Protection of Personal Information Act.
It is a necessary act looking at what the world of social media has become on its own - it carries so much of our personal information that we forget that almost anybody anywhere can access it as a result.
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