With the international community celebrating privacy day every year on the 28th of January, why aren't South Africans doing the same?
ID theft costs South Africa and its tax payers more than 1 Billion Rand per annum and privacy awareness amongst the country's citizens are almost non-existent.
It therefore amazes me then that this topic (Privacy) does not deserve more attention, or at least the attention one would think it should deserve. One can only assume and hope that with the enactment of POPI ("Protection of Personal Information Bill") later this year, the established Information Regulator will drive home privacy education and awareness campaigns that will allow ordinary citizens to take full advantage of their right to privacy as enshrined in section 14 of the SA Constitution.
The opposite that was done in terms of RICA awareness, should be done in terms of POPI awareness. In the RICA instance, cellphone users knew they had to register their information, but did not necessarily know WHY? With POPI, it is hoped that the Regulator will address the WHY of protecting your personal information, and not necessarily the when and if not amongst companies.
It would sometimes seem that too much emphasis is placed on the custodians (i.e. corporations, companies, government etc.) of our personal information, and not the actual holders, which is every individual, you and me. The more one drives awareness amongst ordinary citizens, clients, customers and consumers, the easier it will be to enforce and monitor compliance amongst organisations and government.
In fact, without awareness, you won't have complaints, and without complaints, no implementation of POPI will be forthcoming.
In order to raise awareness, we have collaborated with DiscussIT to address some of the current issues that might be relevant to privacy in South Africa (POPI) in this podcast.
LISTEN HERE to this insightful discussion.
READ HERE for more information on privacy day,
ID theft costs South Africa and its tax payers more than 1 Billion Rand per annum and privacy awareness amongst the country's citizens are almost non-existent.
It therefore amazes me then that this topic (Privacy) does not deserve more attention, or at least the attention one would think it should deserve. One can only assume and hope that with the enactment of POPI ("Protection of Personal Information Bill") later this year, the established Information Regulator will drive home privacy education and awareness campaigns that will allow ordinary citizens to take full advantage of their right to privacy as enshrined in section 14 of the SA Constitution.
The opposite that was done in terms of RICA awareness, should be done in terms of POPI awareness. In the RICA instance, cellphone users knew they had to register their information, but did not necessarily know WHY? With POPI, it is hoped that the Regulator will address the WHY of protecting your personal information, and not necessarily the when and if not amongst companies.
It would sometimes seem that too much emphasis is placed on the custodians (i.e. corporations, companies, government etc.) of our personal information, and not the actual holders, which is every individual, you and me. The more one drives awareness amongst ordinary citizens, clients, customers and consumers, the easier it will be to enforce and monitor compliance amongst organisations and government.
In fact, without awareness, you won't have complaints, and without complaints, no implementation of POPI will be forthcoming.
In order to raise awareness, we have collaborated with DiscussIT to address some of the current issues that might be relevant to privacy in South Africa (POPI) in this podcast.
LISTEN HERE to this insightful discussion.
READ HERE for more information on privacy day,
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