24 March 2020 marked 100 days to the deadline to ensure compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
The Information Regulator (IR) has prioritised certain processes that may be applicable to your organisation (which can be completed before 1 July 2021):
- Registration of information offices – registration commences on 1 May 2021.
- Application for Code of Conduct – if your organisation has identified a need to develop a Code of Conduct, the application must be sent to the IR (IR@justice.gov.za). The IR has published Guidelines on the application process.
- Application for Prior Authorisation – if prior authorisation is applicable to your organisation, the application must be sent to the IR (priorauthorisationIR@justice.gov.za). The IR has published a Guidance Note on the application process.
In the upcoming months, we can expect to see the following documents from the IR:
- Guidance Note on information officers and deputy information officers (expected end of April 2021).
- Guidance Note on exclusions and exemptions from POPIA.
- Template for notification of security compromises in terms of section 22 of POPIA.
- Guidance Note on cross-border transfers of personal information.
Organisations should take note of the public holidays in the upcoming months as these can affect timeous compliance with the above processes (2 April, 5 April, 27 April, 16 June).