New Bill to Help Keep Personal Information Private

Ever wondered where telesales people, along with senders of unsolicited e-mails and sms’s get your details from, the reality is, its likely to have come from an organization you have entrusted with your personal information. If you find being on the receiving end intrusive, its wise practice to never give your information out, unless absolutely necessary.

Referring to the likes of the banks, insurance companies, cellular network providers and many others, as a result of having entered into a financial agreement with them, providing them with personal information is unavoidable. Up to now there has been nothing to prevent them from using this information however they see fit to. Data Bases are in fact lucrative, as they have been known to change hands for considerable sums of money.

In a recent news article penned by Pieter Rautenbach, we reported that the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development intends introducing the Protection of Personal Information Bill. This means that we can all look forward to the implementation of strict laws, which will govern the protection and release of personal information.
 
The Act is intended to provide legal protection for a person, employee or client, where his or her personal information is being collected, stored or used by another person or institution.

The thinking behind the Act is to protect the public from involuntary release of personal details, which many will feel, is an excellent initiative on the part of government, and long overdue.
 
Once written into law, the use of personal information without the individuals consent for any purpose other than that for which it was originally provided, would then be illegal and under the Act,  a prosecutable offence.

Ernest Roper  | Webmaster