New law protects personal info
2009-08-28 09:57
Cape Town - A strict piece of legislation, which prohibits any institution from divulging personal information without a good reason, has been given the green light by Cabinet.
According to this law, institutions are no longer allowed to sell lists of people's personal information to especially telemarketers.
The legislation requires that each person on such a list must first be contacted and their permission obtained before their information may be sold.
Furthermore, telemarketers may only phone members of the public once. If a person tells the telemarketer during the call that they may never be phoned again, the telemarketer may never phone that person again.
Concern over 2010
Cabinet has already given permission for the legislation to be taken to Parliament.
Government wants the legislation on the statute books before hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors come to South Africa to attend the Soccer World Cup next year.
On Thursday, the Judicial Service Commission, which compiled the legislation, revealed more details about the legislation, according to which, the net of protection of information will be cast widely, and everyone "from churches to banks, schools and the video shop where you do business" will open themselves to criminal prosecution if they do not have the measures to protect people's personal information.
Ananda Louw handled the commission's research, which started back in 2003. On Thursday, she said this new legislation would bring South Africa in accordance with about 50 countries which already had such strict laws.
A delicate balance
"With this legislation, we've hopefully managed to maintain a delicate balance between the legal free flow of information on the one hand, and the protection of people's personal information on the other. We were also very much focused on abolishing so-called electronic junk mail, or spam.
"Cabinet has given the legislation the green light. Naturally 2010 plays an important role, since government would like to see that all the foreign visitors spend their time in South African peacefully, knowing that their personal information is safe."
According to Louw, the legislation also provided for an information regulator who would observe and adjudicate institutions which store information.