POPI Act explained

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act arrived on our doorstep this week and most of us do not know how to handle it.

Members of the Mossel Bay Business Chamber and their guests had the opportunity to learn more about the POPI Act at the June networking session which was held at Curro Independent School in Heiderand.

An expert on the Act, Yvonne Vurovecz, broke down the info into digestible chunks and informed the audience what should be in place from today, 1 July. The Act is not a new one, but it was only officially instituted yesterday.

What should we know and comply with when it comes to the POPI Act of 2013? Personal information can be defined as any information that relates to an identifiable, living, natural person and where applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person.

The Act is principal-based and there is no hard and fast rule or tick-off list. It is unique for every organisation. The POPI includes all information relating to a person. This includes race, gender, age, disabilities and health issues, religion, any identifying number, email address, physical address, telephone number or other particular assignment to the person, personal opinion, views or preferences of the person; correspondence sent by the person of a private nature and biometric information of the person.

What are the POPI requirements for any organisation? You have to answer to why personal information is collected and used and stored. When and how personal information is shared, what process will be followed if a data breach occurs and how personal information held by the organisation can be accessed and corrected as well as when personal information is deleted and who the appointed information officer is.

All companies, organisations and community schemes will need to conduct some form of processing of personal information whether it be for purposes of communication with staff, agents, clients, members, affiliated companies; collecting payments, premiums, levies for themselves or on behalf of another, keeping a customer database or register of any kind, conducting opinion surveys, supplying contact details to a third party or using CCTV cameras.

What actions do you need to put in place? You need to inform your clients, staff, affiliated companies or persons or members of the new POPI requirements. A written POPI policy must be adopted and an information officer appointed and you must register with government.

Michelle van der Westhuizen (Curro marketer), Michelle Reyneke (Mossel Bay Advertiser), Marlene Smuts (Harmony Distillery) and Michelle Parsons (Pinnacle Point) enjoying a Harmony Distillery gin liqueur. Photo: Denise Lloyd