As mobile platforms become more prevalent, an understanding of the laws governing the data and information resident on mobile devices is becoming increasingly critical.
This is the argument put forward by a number of speakers who will be presenting at the Barend Burgers Legal Consulting Sixth Annual Cyber Law Conference, on 1 and 2 November, in Midrand. The theme of this year's conference is 'The Mobile Revolution'.
Conference organiser, Barend Burgers believes that “mobile law is the new law of the coming decade”, and that legislative and legal frameworks are imperative to boost the growth, prosperity and adoption of mobile devices in SA.
How mobile differs
While many of the laws that pertain to general electronic communications also apply to mobile, mobile carries higher risk, according to one of the speakers, Unisa professor Dana van der Merwe.
“Theoretically, mobile data messages should be no different, but cellphones have less security built in than computers that are part of a network, especially a 'cloud network',” she says.
Van der Merwe will be speaking about whether the legislative framework provided by the Electronic Communications Act is sufficient for mobile. In some cases, she says, there are gaps.
“This applies to all digital hardware, but cellphones are more at risk because they are not subject to physical access control, as laptop computers are, for instance,” she says.
Another speaker, PricewaterhouseCoopers attorney Pria Chetty, will be discussing mobile marketing.
“Mobile marketing is to many firms the most effective form of direct marketing due to low costs, high mobile penetration in South Africa, and the ability to use rich content,” she says.
However, she cautions that the growth of mobile marketing has been met with advances in consumer and intellectual property regulation that can result in legal action.
The risks
One such regulation Chetty will be speaking about is the Consumer Protection Act, which gives consumers the right to block mobile marketing. She explains that all marketers need to be aware of the consumer's rights, and also of other parts of the Act that might affect them, for example, legislature around online competitions.
The new legislature will also have an effect on risk governance, Chetty explains. “The battle for the attention of consumers has led to a number of legal developments that should be on the radar of risk and governance officers to ensure that innovative strategies are met with legal assurance,” she concludes.
More details about the event can be found here.
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