Progress is being made to promote the protection of personal information. President Cyril Ramaphosa has now announced the commencement of parts of the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPIA). The remaining provisions of the Act will be addressed once the Information Regulator assume its powers, functions and duties in terms of the Act.
The sections that will commence on 1 July 2020 include the conditions for processing personal information, procedures for dealing with complaints and provisions regulating direct marketing by means of unsolicited electronic communication. Sections 2 - 38, 55 - 109, 111 and 114 (1), (2) and (3) shall commence on 1 July 2020 and Sections 110 and 114(4) will commence on 30 June 2021.
According to legislation, businesses are required to manage the complete destruction of all data when IT assets reach end-of-life. Xperien has partnered with Blancco to help clients comply with the growing number of data protection regulations and standards.
Xperien CEO Wale Arewa says businesses that process personal information must ensure that it is done in a lawful way. "The PoPIA Act is designed to protect personal information, especially in the case of data breaches and data theft.”
"Compliance is fast becoming a competitive advantage. "Customers don’t want to be put at risk, data breaches and issues related to regulatory compliance, associated costs and loss of reputation will have dire consequences for businesses that suffer data breaches," he explains.
As a specialist in data erasure and diagnostics, Blancco focuses on aspects of data compliance and cybersecurity that companies of all sizes need to take into consideration. Blancco provides thousands of businesses with an absolute line of defence against costly security breaches, as well as verification of regulatory compliance through a 100% tamper-proof audit trail.
"Within one year after the commencement of the Act, all forms of processing of personal information must be done in accordance with the Act. This will ensure that companies have adequate security measures when dealing with your private information," he concludes.
