Curb on data abuse on the horizon as Popi comes alive

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is more than a buzzword or a poster slogan. It is very real. Technology is infiltrating every aspect of our lives quicker than anyone can say “where has my privacy gone?”

The blurring of the lines between physical reality and a digital world is exciting but, in many ways, Orwellian in its possible impact and consequence to important freedoms.

Big data, or large volumes of information analysed by the machinations of technology will continue to play a larger role in how goods and services are marketed, how we interact with the world and what people know about us.  And Big Brother data already knows a lot.

“For example, any input you enter into Facebook, every search, every site you visit and every piece of information that you share online is stored,” said Arelene Prince, general manager of data business CG Consulting.

Harvested data lives in the cloud and is processed when needed, creating profiles of individuals, interest groups, cities and countries in an endless list of permutations. Data about you is, as Prince describes it, “the new oil for business”.

“Its value,” she said, “is in the application of the information. Not the information itself, which can just be a jumble of code without purpose.”

If you have ever wondered how insurance companies or cellphone contract salespeople have access to all your details, it is probably because you willingly gave it to someone.

From online competitions with data opt-in options, or even completing an online query, it is all shared, stored and used. The Protection of Personal Information Act (Popi) comes into effect on 1 July this year.

Its intention is to protect South Africans against the abuse of data.

“Every business, regardless of size or industry sector, will be held liable if they do not adhere to the Popi regulations that focus on how personal customer information can be processed and used.”

Prince, who manages data lead generation for a multitude of clients, said the process of collection must be legitimate and targeted.

“Lead generation and the collection and use of data will have to include permission from individuals to be contacted and, of course, to have access to their data,” said Prince.

Werksmans attorneys has an extensive online resource for companies to interrogate compliance with the Act. The site noted that privacy was only one aspect of the new rules and that data protection and how data was managed plays an equally important role.

Prince said CG Consulting had refined its data business over the past decade to fully comply.

“If you have not started getting your house in order, it may already be too late.”

She added there were phone calls daily for assistance in sifting through corporate data to redevelop information into compliance.

“It comes down to protecting your customer and internal databases from security breaches, understanding where all your data is from, where it is stored, as well as having customer permission to use their information for marketing purposes.

“If this is not in place, then it does not matter if the company complies with all other aspects of the regulations, it will remain noncompliant.”

In an article on its homepage, Werksmans said: “If you collect or hold information about an identifiable individual or if you use, disclose, retain, or destroy that information, you are likely to be processing personal data.

“The scope of Popi is very wide and it applies to almost everything you might do with an individual’s personal details; including employees.”

Other African countries and the European Union also have data protection requirements, which need to be interrogated when doing business into the rest of the continent.

“Understanding the nuances of personal data associated with each country you are operating in is going to be imperative.”

news@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.