With the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) now in full
force, South African organisations have until 30 June 2021 to be fully
compliant. Under POPIA, any organisations doing business in South Africa that collects
or stores the personal information of a South African citizen need to adhere to
a strict set of obligations or risk heavy penalties.
According to Cameron Beveridge, Regional Director for Southern Africa at
SAP, the new requirements offer an opportunity to local businesses to build
trust with their customers.
“New data privacy laws such as POPIA and Europe’s GDPR are designed to
give individuals greater control over how and where their personal information
is used,” he says. “As organisations update their systems and
processes to ensure compliance, they have the opportunity to deepen trust with
their customers while also improving the overall customer
experience.”
POPIA requires that organisations:
- Only collect information for
specific purposes,
- Ensure the information is
correct and up to date,
- Have security measures in place
to protect the information,
- Only keep necessary
information, and
- Allow citizens to access or
view their information upon request.
“At the centre of this new dynamic is the concept of consent,” says
Beveridge. “This requires that organisations implement an opt-in and opt-out
system to allow individuals to choose whether they want an organisation to
store or use their personal information.”
Non-compliance to POPIA carries heavy penalties of up to ten years’
imprisonment or R10-million in administrative penalties.
“Organisations need to maintain proof of how, when, where and why they
collected and processed customer data, and be able to provide transparency into
how they collect and use customers’ data. However, managing this process
manually is virtually impossible. Organisations should instead seek technology
tools that can transparently present, collect and manage customer consent and
help them manage customer profiles and preferences.”
SAP currently offers a suite of tools that improve the storing, processing and management of customer data.
“Ideally, you want an audit-ready solution that presents and captures
customers’ consent and preferences, maintains accurate records and consistent
consent enforcement, and gives customers control through a self-service
preference centre.
“As more of our interactions take place digitally in this new era
of social distancing, having the correct tools in place to manage customer data
while remaining compliant to legislation can also directly contribute to an
improved customer experience – one of the driving factors for any successful
modern business.”
