Parliament to debate Personal Information Bill

Added by Audra Mahlong on September 7, 2012.
Saved under E-Government

This is the ninth working draft of the Bill which was first introduced in February 2009.

Parliament’s Justice and Constitutional Development committee has adopted the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Bill.

This is the ninth working draft of the Bill which was first introduced in February 2009. The Bill has been debated by a technical committee since 2010 –with deliberations concluding in March 2012.

The Bill will now head to the National Assembly before heading to the National Council of Provinces for agreement.

The POPI Bill aims to promote the protection of personal information processed by public and private bodies and introduce minimum requirements for the processing of personal information.

The Bill makes provision for the establishment of an Information Regulator to exercise certain powers, duties and functions in terms of existing laws.

It also provides for the issuing of codes of conduct; provides for the rights of persons regarding unsolicited electronic communications and automated decision making; and regulates the flow of personal information across national borders.