POPI Compliance in Five DAYS? – Impossible?
Small Business guru Peter D Carruthers writes:
POPI goes "live" in under five weeks. (That's the Protection of Personal
Information Act.)
That's barely enough time to read the Act, let alone do what's needed to
comply.
There are two approaches to compliance.
- The first is to cover your bottom with paper. Have a contract to cover
anything that might go wrong. Not worry about protecting the data. Big companies
go for this approach. Lawyers wrote almost everything you read about this new
Act for other lawyers.
- There is a second, more straightforward way. Just protect the data! After all,
that's the entire point of the Act.
Ask yourself two questions about issues you will face under the Act:
1. When last were you asked to correct a client's information in your books?
POPI makes this very complex and formal. That's one of the reasons for all the
paperwork. I haven't had one such request in 10 years.
2. When last did you lose a USB thumb drive, laptop, or mobile phone?
This is much more dangerous for us small businesses. You must report yourself to
the Information Regulator if you lose any such device. That's when you need
paperwork.
If you make some simple, free changes to the way you work, you won't ever need
to deal with the Information Regulator.
I've had one laptop and one server stolen. Each theft is a reportable offence
from 1 July. I also have a box of assorted disk drives and USB thumb drives and
not much clue what's on them. If any of these goes missing, I must report it as
well.
Discover a five-day approach to data privacy compliance today, or
next Wednesday, at 8 pm.
Invest 60 minutes this week. Never face a civil servant probing your POPI
compliance.
You will see the POPI Act reduced into simple basics you must follow to stay
safe.
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Click here to join me online at 8 pm Wednesday to get small business answers to POPI. | 
