BlogTechcellent: Protection of Personal Information
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This month we’re going to focus on Online Privacy and Security. We’ll share tips on how to avoid phishing scams, teach you how to pick a secure password and share how you can protect your digital identity, privacy and social media.
The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) came into effect on 01 July. The purpose of the POPI Act is to ensure that all South African companies conduct themselves in a responsible manner when collecting, processing, storing and sharing another entity’s personal information by holding them accountable should they abuse or compromise your personal information in any way.
The POPI legislation basically considers your personal information to be “precious goods” and therefore aims to bestow upon you, as the owner of your personal information, certain rights of protection and the ability to exercise control over:
- when and how you choose to share your information (requires your consent)
- the type and extent of information you choose to share (must be collected for valid reasons)
- transparency and accountability on how your data will be used (limited to the purpose) and notification if/when the data is compromised providing you with access to your own information as well as the right to have your data removed and/or destroyed should you so wish
- who has access to your information, i.e. there must be adequate measures and controls in place to track access and prevent unauthorised people, even within the same company, from accessing your information
- how and where your information is stored (there must be adequate measures and controls in place to safeguard your information to protect it from theft, or being compromised) the integrity and continued accuracy of your information (i.e., your information must be captured correctly and once collected, the institution is responsible to maintain it)
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