POPI is almost here - companies must start working on getting compliant

With the Protection of Public Information (POPI) Act now law; companies will have about a year, from the date of commencement of the Act, to get compliant. Richard Broeke, a security specialist from IT security firm, Securicom, says companies shouldn't wait to the eleventh hour to start looking at the implications of POPI on their business and implementing measures to ensure compliance.

"Start now. POPI was made law late last year, and once the date of commencement of the Act is confirmed, companies will have a year to get their houses in order and be able to demonstrate that they have measures in place to control unauthorised access to information.

"While POPI places obligations on all businesses that process personal information, the implications for organisations can become quite onerous, depending on their industry and the nature of the information they handle about their customers. Companies in the Financial Services, Healthcare and Marketing sectors, in particular, will be affected by this Act.

The ever-changing corporate governance landscape

"In anticipation of the actual application of POPI, and against the backdrop of the ever-changing corporate governance landscape, even small businesses are going to have to treat IT security far more seriously and be compliant.

"Those that have the bar minimum in place in terms of email security, archiving and data storage are literally going to have to start from scratch. While POPI isn't an overly-technical piece of legislation, becoming compliant might take some time," he says.

POPI provides conditions and regulates how companies that process personal information should handle, store and secure that data. While the legislation is not all that technical, it is strict and the penalties for non-compliance aren't to be sniffed at. Contravention of POPI can result in a potentially-debilitating fine of up to R10 million, and even possible jail time.

Improving IT security

Broeke says companies need to familiarise themselves with POPI and fast track projects to improve IT security. This includes email security, and security on laptops, endpoints, servers and mobile devices, to control access to information and prevent data loss. Staff should also be given training to inculcate information security awareness across the organization.

"Furthermore, companies need to consider how they are to protect the confidentiality and integrity of information that employees, in terms of their roles within the organisation, are actually authorised to see.

"Data leakage, which is the intentional or accidental exposure of information, can occur in a variety of ways, from employees talking about their employers' business and customers in emails, on the phone or online right through to staff members losing or misplacing discs or flash drives containing critical business information.

"So, aside from robust tools to secure and protect the information they process and store, companies should also have well-defined security policies and procedures in place that define and regulate the acceptable use of information by employees. These policies should include guidelines for reacting to a breach.

Policies put in place

"Employees of course, should also be aware of these policies. They must understand what they can and can't say, what type of information is protected and therefore cannot be shared, and the consequences of not sticking to the rules or being careless," says Broeke.

When it comes to the storage of data, Broeke says companies are going to have to look more closely at where it is housed. Local companies should ideally store data in secure, local data centres. Many organizations are led to believe by storage service providers that their data is stored in South Africa.

However, this is not the case. Data is backed up to data centres around the world without the companies being aware. When the time comes that they want to access or move the data, they find they can't because they are subject to the information laws of the country where the data resides. They also cannot be confident of the level of both software and physical security implemented at a data centre located in another country.

"Keeping data local is better for good governance and legal compliance," says Broeke.

He concludes saying that Securicom is geared to assist companies in complying with POPI, the Electronic Communications and Transactions (ECT) Act, and other pieces of legislation that regulate the processing of sensitive information.

"We are here to help companies navigate the legislative landscape, enforce firm policies and implement solid technologies to ensure compliance."