Data Protection Judgments and Cases

Lawyers must use AI professionally

Lawyers must use AI professionally to preserve the doctrine of precedent. There are a number of globally reported incidents (like fake case-law citations in the UK) illustrating where lawyers have failed to use AI professionally with significant consequences. There is [...]

Katiba v Tools for Humanity and others | Biometric data

Katiba v Tools for Humanity and others is Kenya's landmark High Court decision on biometric privacy. Worldcoin-linked entities violated Kenya's Data Protection Act by collecting iris and facial scans in exchange for cryptocurrency. The court halted the project and ordered [...]

De Jager v Netcare | Surveillance Evidence and POPIA

In De Jager v Netcare, the High Court considered whether surveillance evidence collected without consent was admissible under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). The case clarifies when personal information, including special personal information like health data, may be [...]

SCHUFA case | OQ v Land Hessen | Automated decision-making

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a landmark SCHUFA case or judgement (OQ v Land Hessen) on automated decision-making (ADM) and EU data protection about credit scoring. On 7 December 2023, it ruled that companies may [...]

Munetsi v Madhuyu | Disclosure of personal information

Munetsi v Madhuyu and Another involves the disclosure of personal information on social media without consent. The applicant sued the respondents to stop sharing his personal information online. He also requested a public apology and punitive costs. The court ordered [...]

Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS) v Hawarden | BEC

In Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs(ENS) v Hawarden, ENS appealed the judgment handed down in Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld the appeal and dismissed the original order from the high court. Hawarden may appeal this [...]

WB v RB | Medical records disclosure

WB v RB is an important judgment regarding medical records disclosure. A husband requested access to his wife's bipolar disorder health records for child custody proceedings. The court ordered the clinic to reveal the treatment details while respecting confidentiality [...]

Safi v Gascoigne | BEC

In Safi v Gascoigne, Safi sued Gascoigne Randon and Associates, a conveyancing firm, for a loss of R889,308.50 from a business email compromise (BEC).  Who should care about this judgment and why? The public because they need to be aware [...]

Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS) | BEC

In Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS), Hawarden succeeded in suing ENS for the loss of R5.5 million because of a Business Email Compromise (BEC). Hawarden was ENS' client.  The court said that ENS owed a general duty of care [...]

Trends in data protection litigation around the world

Since 2020, legal practitioners in the UK predicted that data protection litigation would increase in the coming years. Data protection litigation in the EU was quite widespread as data subjects began to lodge claims directly with civil courts (as opposed [...]

Smuts v Botha (SCA decision) | Freedom of expression

In Smuts v Botha, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) overturned a High Court judgment which ordered Smuts to take down parts of a Facebook post containing Botha's personal information. The SCA held that the information that Smuts published could […]

Botha v Smuts (High Court decision) | Freedom of expression

In Botha v Smuts, the court ordered Smuts to take down parts of a Facebook post containing Botha's personal information. The post had an image of Botha with his minor child, details about his business and his address. The court [...]