Share

EU data laws 'challenging' to SA firms

Cape Town - South African companies doing business with European Union (EU) customers may themselves at odds with new data protection regulations, says a digital communications specialist.

The 'General Data Protection Regulation' policy (GDPR) replaces the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. And South African businesses that process data on EU citizens are obligated to comply with the new regulations.

“A key element of the new regulations concerns the transfer of customer data outside the EU to jurisdictions where the data protection standards are not at a similar level,” said Alison Treadaway, director of Striata.

The company specialises in digital communication and does business with large South African firms such as Nedbank, Standard Bank and Absa.

In SA, the Personal Protection of Information Act (Popi) obligates a more robust framework for the handing of personal data, but the act is not yet fully implemented.

Legislation gap

READ: Internet trust evaporating - survey

“If South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act 3 of 2013 (Popi) had been fully enacted, this would have gone a long way to motivating SA businesses to make the required changes to bring their data protection policies in line within the 12-month grace period,” said Treadaway.

She added that there was a significant gap in terms of what EU regulators required and South African law which has resulted in local firms dragging their heels on compliance with EU regulations.

"Call centres, data centres and business process outsourcers that touch EU customer data will need to ensure they are fully compliant with the GDPR to continue providing services,” Treadaway said.

While Popi has made some efforts to enforce legal protections for personal data, there are some areas where local legislation falls short, Treadaway argued.

“A requirement that is inadequately covered in Popi is the concept of ‘data portability’ which is the right for a data subject to receive his or her data in a “structured, commonly used, machine-readable and interoperable format and the right to transmit those data to another controller”,” she said.

The EU has taken a hard look at how tech companies handle data.

The European Commission recently ordered search giant Google to enforce its "Right to Be Forgotten" regulation and is also investigating the company over anti-competitive behaviour with regard to its online shopping search results.

Despite the impact of the regulations, Treadaway said that full implementation of Popi in SA would go a long way to aligning companies for business in Europe.

“There are many areas of alignment between Popi and the GDPR, which should make it easier for SA businesses working toward Popi compliance to also meet GDPR requirements.”

WATCH this online video on EU data legislation:

- Follow Duncan on Twitter

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
19.08
-0.9%
Rand - Pound
24.03
-0.6%
Rand - Euro
20.57
-0.5%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.38
-0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.9%
Platinum
890.97
-0.7%
Palladium
988.99
-1.3%
Gold
2,195.56
+0.0%
Silver
24.43
-0.9%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
67,885
+0.3%
All Share
74,077
+0.2%
Resource 10
56,208
+1.0%
Industrial 25
103,636
+0.4%
Financial 15
16,471
-0.3%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders