by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of the Data Privacy Practice

Questions in relation to POPI compliance are indeed ample. Various companies wish to understand what to do immediately and how do they achieve POPI compliance. What are the easy steps and processes to undertake? All this can easily mean that companies are lulled into an assumption that POPI calls for a "set it and forget it" proposition. This is understandable: policies, terms and conditions, disclaimers, all are written and often forgotten when it comes to compliance with legislation.

With all of the eagerness to understand what the next steps are, comes various myths that are bantered around and which ought to be addressed.

The major myths when it comes to internalising POPI, can be depicted as follows:

When it comes to protecting privacy, individual customer information, data, reputation, the situation is complex. Do not be tempted by simplicity as it is indeed so seductive that one can easily forget that focus is required when considering the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 and it impact on your business.

Identify the myth and introduce reality when considering POPI and the way forward.

For information on the Werksmans POPI e-learning course, click here.