The Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Bill will benefit consumers but impact on e-commerce.
So says JJ Milner, founder and chief cloud architect at Global Micro, who notes that the data legislation in its current form is closely aligned with proposed European data protection legislation, and aims to hand control back to consumers.
"It requires companies to have an extra opt-in level, alerting consumers to what information they are giving and what will be done with that information. It will also require companies to be more responsible with the data they've collected," he says.
While the new legislation is unlikely to inconvenience users, there will be greater security behind the scenes, so to speak, says Milner. However, he notes that businesses based on monetising the personal data supplied on Web sites will face extra costs due to the tighter data controls.
This may strain smaller e-commerce businesses, but will merely cause a budget rethink for larger companies, he explains.
Despite the potential impact on business, the laws are essential, he adds. "I don't think people appreciate how valuable their privacy is until it is lost. People give away their most valuable asset via an asymmetrical value exchange with online companies. If you sign up to have your personal data accessed through, for instance, Facebook, something as simple as the searches you are carrying out can be sold to a marketer," Milner notes.
"You may trust the news or retail company that you have given permission to access your data, but you don't know who else they may share your data with. Sharing this kind of data already opens consumers up to a wealth of spam, but there is also the very real risk that it can open them up to identity theft - something that seems like a plot from a bad action movie, until it happens to you. This kind of information could make its way into the hands of untrustworthy individuals, businesses or governments."
Current laws allow South Africans to demand information on how their data was accessed by marketers, but there is very little compliance or enforcement at the moment, Milner adds. "We absolutely welcome this law," says Milner. "I think it's been a long time coming. It's a pity that the law that ends up being passed will most likely be an extremely watered-down version, but we'll take what we can get. Privacy is paramount."
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