Protection of Personal Information Bill Goes For EU Model

Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development

The South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC), in their recommendations to the department of justice and constitutional affairs on the Protection of Personal Information Bill, now tabled, chose the EU approach to information protection, which focuses on the “processing” of data, rather than the USA and Australian approach which tends to place emphasis on the “collection” of data.

The new bill aims to give effect to the right to privacy by ensuring that the personal information of an individual is safeguarded when being processed by “responsible” parties.

Whilst the bill was still in draft form, SALRC drew attention to the fact that it was not only their opinion but that of many of the submissions received, that considerable care had to be exercised in the drafting the bill when it came definitions, concepts and terminology to ensure that consistency had existed across the range of legislation that surrounds information handling.

They were referring specifically to the Promotion of Access to Information Act and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.

This portion of the information trilogy is therefore now tabled in Parliament, the purpose of the bill being also to include in its main objectives the protection of “important interests, including the free flow of information across the borders of the Republic”.

In protecting such rights to privacy, a balancing act, the authors say, has been to protect those rights defined in the bill in the light of other rights, particularly the right of access to information. This axiomatic situation has resulted in a considerable number of prohibitions, conditions, exceptions and exemptions, resulting in twelve chapters and a lengthy Bill, which will no doubt give rise to much debate in Parliament.

Already the bill tabled singles out for special treatment such information as is needed by the medical world under certain exceptional circumstances; the use of information for journalism; the access to information by trade unions to achieve objectives and the supply of information on religious beliefs, to quote but a few of the contentious matters dealt with. 

No doubt a considerable number of further issues will arise in parliamentary hearings, the date for which has not yet been set.

Hof