POPIA Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

To build trust, payment providers need to ensure they are compliant and follow standards

12Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

To build trust, payment providers need to ensure they are compliant and follow standards

By Thabiso Serake: Information Security Officer at Pay@ October is Cyber Security Awareness month and is observed globally to help individuals protect themselves online as threats to technology and confidential data become more common. Former South African finance minister Tito Mboweni recently made headlines when his bank account was hacked, and a large sum of money was stolen1 from him. Earlier this year, pharmacy retail giant Dis-Chem fell victim to a cyber-attack, resulting in data of over 3.6 million South Africans being compromised2. This goes to show that South Africans need to be more vigilant when protecting their data on the internet and organisations must take into consideration all types of security measures to keep everyone protected. Cyber-attacks on organisations such as ...

31Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

The Protection of Personal Information Act: How will it impact SA’s payments landscape?

The Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) came into full effect from 1 July 2021. The Act is the comprehensive data protection legislation that obliges organisations to lawfully process the personal information of data subjects (both natural and juristic persons) by applying specific principles and conditions. But how will it affect the payments space specifically? “As businesses in the payments industry process copious amounts of personal information, they now have to change many elements of the way they operate in order to accommodate the Act,” says Cecil Munsamy, Managing Director of AVeS Cyber Security and a consultant to Pay@ - a leading payment aggregator and provider of secure payment solutions. “These businesses now need to have extensive compliance programmes in p...

8Jun

By Baker McKenzieNo Comments

Ghana News, South Africa News, Tech

Implementation of cybersecurity and data protection law urgent across Africa

South Africa recently enacted cybersecurity law Darryl Bernstein, Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution, and Janet MacKenzie, Partner and Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg The pandemic has driven home the high value of personal data to the global economy, while also highlighting its vulnerability to abuse and attack. In response, governments around the world have been reviewing their data privacy and protection laws and regulations, including in South Africa. Global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky recently noted that cyberattacks are set to rise in African countries, especially in the key financial centres of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. The cybersecurity firm noted that rapidly evolving digital techniques had led to an increased risk of Advan...

16May

By Chido Pamela MafongoyaNo Comments

African News, Business, South Africa News

South Africa: The Protection Of Personal Information Act (POPIA); Mandatory Appointment Of Information Officer – What You Need To Know

By Chido Pamela Mafongoya, Centurion Law Group With the Fourth Industrial Revolution at play and the increase of internet usage, the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) was designed to ensure the protection of personal information when being processed. The main aim of the POPIA is to protect data subjects from security breaches, theft, and discrimination. The POPIA also aligns South Africa’s privacy laws with international standards and international best practices. In terms of POPIA, all organizations who process personal information are required to adopt measures to ensure the protection of personal information. It is mandatory for all data processors and responsible persons to comply with POPIA. The Act provides for a one-year transition period, allowing impac...

6Mar

By Caitlin NaidooNo Comments

South Africa News

Whatsapp’s New Privacy Terms: Data Protection And Privacy Laws In South Africa

By Caitlin Naidoo, Centurion Law Group In January 2021, WhatsApp announced that it would be altering its privacy terms to share data with Facebook causing panic among WhatsApp users. Users that want to continue using WhatsApp’s services have no choice but to agree to these new privacy terms. WhatsApp is a messaging platform used globally as an alternative to normal SMS or device-specific texting platforms such as iMessage or BBM, hence the hysteria causing millions of users to flee to alternative platforms such as Signal and Telegram. Much of the concern over these new privacy terms is due to a lack of understanding from the general public regarding privacy laws, particularly in relation to the internet and social media. Many people were under the impression tha...