Welcome to the first Acuideas e-Dition. Here to keep you up-to-date on products, services, industry news and everything Acuideas.

The South African Protection of Private Information Act 2013 will officially be enforced from 1 July 2021.  This piece of legislation was passed in 2013 and essentially the purpose of the Act is to protect individuals from harm by protecting their personal information.  The protection of a person’s privacy is a fundamental human right and generally speaking, personal information is deemed any information that can be used to personally identify a natural or juristic person.  This can include name, identity number, address, marital status and religious beliefs amongst others.

The POPI Act applies to every business in South Africa, even those international companies that does business in South Africa that collects, uses, stores or destroys personal information, whether or not this collection is done manually or automatically.

These are:

• The Data Subject – the person to whom the information relates (the client/insured).
• The Responsible Party – the person who decides why and how to process the data (the broker/insurer).
• The Operator – the person who processes the personal information of the data subject on behalf of the responsible party.

The POPI Act places various obligations on the responsible party, as it is ultimately the person/body responsible for the processing of personal information.  It is thus very important for the responsible party to only use operators that can meet the requirements of lawful processing of the information received from the data subject.
Failure to comply with the regulations stated in the Act can lead to 2 legal penalties that can be imposed.  These are:

• A fine or imprisonment of between R1 million and R10 million or one to 10 years in jail.
• Paying compensation to the data subject for the damages they suffered.

It is recommended that organizations that have not yet started becoming compliant with the Act, do so as soon as possible to avoid these penalties and any reputational impact.  Concurrently, an organization should also commence a data privacy awareness programme for the staff.

All organisations need to establish measures that ensure that they collect, process, use, store, delete and otherwise handle personal information.  All the information gathered and processed should also be appropriately protected from unauthorized access.  It is important to create a culture of data protection within companies – and this will necessitate some more policies and procedures to be put into place.

Tip 1
Be sure that you give express consent prior to allowing an organization processing your personal information.

Tip 2
If an organization holds your personal information you have a right to request that your personal information be destroyed, and you have the right to request what type of information the organization is processing.

Tip 3
Your personal information can only be processed for a specific defined purpose.

Tip 4
You must give your consent to receive direct marketing via SMS, automatic calling machines or e-mails from any organization who processes your personal information.

It may seem that the POPI Act only adds to the administrative burden of organizations.  However, POPI also provides the opportunity to analyse and have more control over the data handled within any organization and to better understand its purpose.  Now, data is an increasingly valuable resource and enhanced data management can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of any organisation.

Meet: Lufuno Munyai, Broker Support Administrator

Lufuno started working at Acuideas in September 2020.  She firmly believes in taking a collaborative approach and providing excellent service and quality work to the Acuideas broker network.

There’s nothing she loves more than working with her team members towards a common goal and achieving it. Lufuno looks forward to learning, growing and becoming a valuable asset to the Acuideas team.

Question:
The Information Regulator will start enforcing the POPI Act provisions on:a. 1 July 2020
b. 1 May 2022
c. 1 July 2021Select the correct answer and e-mail your choice to enquiries@acuideas.co.za
The correct answers will be entered into a lucky draw where the winner will be informed via e-mail and announced in the next e-Dition.

Prize:
Woolworths Voucher to the value of R250

T: 012 003 0100
F: 086 206 2197
E: enquiries@acuideas.co.za