ABOUT
Francis Cronjé has more than 20 years of industry and consulting experience across a broad range of engagements and industries.
He was instrumental during the drafting and refinement of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and acted in an advisory capacity to Parliament's Technical Working Committee on POPIA where he served until POPIA's enactment. He later provided further insight to the Portfolio Committee of Justice and Constitutional Development during the finalisation of POPIA and also served on the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) assisting with POPIA. Francis was subsequently shortlisted for the role of the Information Regulator.
Prior to forming Ф franciscronje.com, he served as a Specialist Legal Consultant on Data Protection and IT Advisory at KPMG South Africa, where he headed up Data Protection as a service line to clients.
Francis is the co-author and co-editor of the textbook Cyberlaw@SA, second edition, the first book to address the ECT Act and RICA Act.
He also co-authored the books:
- 101 Questions and Answers about the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI);
- PAIA: What you need to know;
- The Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill: What you need to know - which he also edited, and
- The Cybercrimes Act: What you need to know - which he also edited.
He has presented at numerous seminars locally and internationally on matters ranging from ICT Law, Data Governance to Data Protection and IT Asset Management.
Francis was a part time lecturer at the Universities of the Western Cape (UWC) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) and also lectured at the University of the Witwatersrand (UW). He obtained his LLM from the University of Oslo on ICT Law and Data Protection under the mentorship of Professors Jon Bing and Lee Bygrave - advisors to the European Commission on Data Protection. He is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), having been certified as an Information Privacy Professional (CIPP and CIPT respectively). He served as the IAPP's KnowledgeNet first Chairperson in Cape Town.
He has published several articles on Data Protection and ICT Law in the local and international media. His most recent article on Data Protection was published in the International Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law. He also had a column with Hi-Tech Security Solutions where he regularly wrote on the balance between technology and the law.
Francis is an Adjudicator for the Wireless Application Service Provider’s and Internet Service Provider’s Associations of South Africa and also serves on their Appeal Panels.
He was also part of the South African Bureau Of Standards (SABS) privacy working group and submitted comments on its behalf to the International Standards Organization (ISO) for its proposed ISO 29100 standard on data protection.
He served as a Data Assessor for the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa and is admitted as an Advocate to the High Court of South Africa.