Are you looking for the PPI Bill or PPI Act? Most people refer to it as POPI, POPIA or the POPI Act. POPI might not be the right name or the one that Parliament wants people to call it, but POPI has become the common name for the Protection of Personal Information Act. Some people are not happy about it because of what POPI means in Afrikaans. But POPI has caught on.
The PPI Act
The PPI Act is the first act which relates specifically to the protection of personal information. Prior to the Act, the right to privacy was governed by the Constitution and the common law. The purpose of the PPI Act is to protect data subjects (natural or juristic) like you and me from harm. Harm does not necessarily mean physical harm it can be financial harm as well. If a thief gets your bank account details, they can cause tremendous financial harm to your organisation.
I think that there is a difference between the:
- broad concept of the protection of personal information (PPI), and
- the Protection of Personal Information Act (PPI Act).
POPI refers specifically to the Act, which is but one of the laws that relate to the protection of personal information or PPI. Various laws define personal information but the PPI Act will replace the definitions of personal information in acts like PAIA and the ECT Act.
What actions you can take:
- Be alerted to any new developments by subscribing to our newsletter.
- Find out more about the POPI Act and how to comply with POPI yourself by attending a POPI Workshop.
- Get specialist subject matter expert support to empower you to implement POPI by joining the Michalsons POPI Compliance Programme.
- Comply with POPI by getting Michalsons to do some action items for you.
