SOUTH AFRICA’S INFORMATION REGULATOR AIMS TO HALT SELLING OF CONSUMERS’ PERSONAL INFORMATION

PRETORIA, The Information Regulator has received 107 complaints from the South African public related to unlawful processing of personal information and access to information, with most of the complaints related to direct marketing, and with the banking, insurance and telecommunications industries being the most cited offenders.

The regulator, which has just come into existence, has powers to investigate and fine those who sell personal information without the owners’ consent. It is illegal to access and process a person’s personal information without consent and South Africa’s insurance, banking and telecommunications industries are often guilty of doing so.

The Chairperson of the Information Regulator, Pansy Tlakula, said Wednesday: All of us are bombarded by unsolicited direct marketing through our phones, through our email. Everyday, even now, if you open their phone now, you’ll find a message that tries to send you one thing or the other.

The regulator currently boasts a staff of five. It was cited as a respondent in the matter between the South African Social Security Agency and the Cash Paymaster system used by the government to reach recipients of social security grants after most grant recipients complained about illegal deductions from their accounts without their consent.

Tlakula said: “Grant beneficiaries are ordinary people who struggle to make a living and their personal information is given out to all sorts and manner of service providers. At the end of the day, when they get their grants then there are a whole lot of deductions that have been taken.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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