By Dieketseng Maleke 
Jun 23, 2021
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Law firm ENSafrica has announced that the Protection of Personal Act (Popi) Act will still be implemented on July 1.
In a statement, the law firm said: “We can confirm that Popi Act is still coming fully into effect on 1 July 2021.”
Regulated by the information regulator, the act will be used as a reference in instances where consumers feel that their personal information is abused or companies demand personal information when it is not necessary.
The act was signed into law in 2013 but parts of it became effective a year later.
The law firm said confusion and misinformation were circulating regarding the effective date of the act.
“The confusion on the effective date for Popi Act has been caused by the suspension of only section 58(2) of POPIA, which has been postponed from 1 July 2021 until 1 February 2022. The remaining sections of POPIA have not been suspended,” ENSafrica said.
According to the law firm, section 58(2) of POPIA deals with the suspension of processing activities that have been notified to the Information Regulator for prior authorisation in terms of section 58(1).
The law firm said the registration portal for the act also experienced technical glitches.
“After numerous concerns raised regarding the registration process of information and deputy information officers, the Information Regulator has also confirmed that there will be no deadline for registration of information officers and deputy information officers.
“This means that no responsible party will be held liable for not registering by 30 June 2021,” the law firm added.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE