Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”) in light of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (“PAIA”)
With POPIA coming into operation on 1 July 2021 most people have lost sight of PAIA. A few years ago, PAIA came into operation and all companies were required to draft and adopt a PAIA manual which set the framework as to how third parties could access information held by public or private bodies.
These PAIA manuals are mandatory and are required to be placed on each organisation’s website or be accessible on demand.
Naturally, the PAIA appears to be in conflict with POPIA which limits the sharing of personal information. Thus POPIA has amended PAIA and changed the wording required to be inserted into PAIA manuals in order to comply with POPIA.
It is therefore imperative that you do not lose sight of the significance of PAIA in the advent of POPIA coming into operation.
If your organisation has an existing PAIA manual it may require a small amendment to be compliant with POPIA. If your organisation does not have a PAIA manual it must have this in place by no later than 30 June 2021 as part of your company’s POPIA compliance.
This article was prepared by SLKB Inc. A member of the Austrian Business Chamber.
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