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“I own a local store making custom items for our clients. Because of the nature of some of the client requests I have to use other suppliers and have to share basic information about my clients with them. I am aware of POPIA and I understand that we need to comply, including to new regulations that I understand have been issued.
Our personal devices – such as mobile phones, laptops and tablets – are increasingly used to access movies, download Apps, store music or stream content from platforms like Netflix or Showmax. And they are often shared among family members, such as children who regularly use their parents’ devices to enjoy online content. But, with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) finally coming into effect on 30 June this year, which aims to enforce protection of personal information by creating the lawful conditions for how this information must be managed, are employees – and the businesses that hire them – violating its rules? Potentially yes, says Sián Fields, intellectual property and technology law consultant from Reynolds Attorneys, a boutique law firm in Cape Town.
Image: Andrew Harrer The Information Regulator says it will analyse the revised WhatsApp privacy policy to assess whether its terms of service are in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia). The regulator said it had met on Wednesday to discuss the social media app's revised policy. “The regulator has made contact with Facebook South Africa, which has provided the regulator with the WhatsApp privacy policy, which was revised on January 4. The engagements with Facebook South Africa are ongoing,” it said. “In terms of the revised policy, it appears that there are different terms of service and privacy policies for users in European countries and in non-European Countries.