Many questions surround the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act and many companies remain uncertain of how to adhere to the rules and regulations of the Act, as well as how to implement new business practices that will ensure compliance.
On this note, Ovations, in partnership with ITWeb, is conducting an online POPI Survey to gauge and understand the current POPI landscape in SA and to gather information about the needs of organisations when it comes to complying with the POPI Act.
"The survey is also to gauge the level of readiness within industries which will assist Ovations to determine where the gaps are in the market and exactly where we can offer the best solutions to companies in terms of compliance. As this is a new Act and companies are expected to be compliant within a year, organisations may face challenges when complying with the conditions of the Act," says Jordan Biermann, knowledge manager at Ovations.
Biermann points out that an organisation's non-compliance with the POPI Act may result in an administrative fine of up to R10 million and/or a penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
"The amount of the fine will depend on the level of non-compliance which will be determined by the regulator, which is defined in the Penalties Section (Section 107) of the POPI Act. Companies only have a one-year grace period to become compliant with the Act."
According to Biermann, organisations are still trying to come to grips with the new POPI Act and becoming compliant.
"Most companies are currently in the process of internal audits to assess their strengths and weaknesses with regards to becoming POPI compliant. Compliance can be more accurately gauged once internal audits are completed and companies start to implement the best fitting security safeguards and/or solutions. Ovations provides a complete and holistic execution that interweaves the key areas of people, processes and technology in a company, which assist your company with this process including a POPI strategy and implementation roadmap."
Click here to complete the survey and you can win a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0
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