- You have 12 months - Are you POPIA compliant?

What is the Protection of Personal Information Act?

POPIA aims to give effect to the constitutional right to privacy, as set out by the Constitution of South Africa by introducing and promoting measures that will ensure all personal information handled by companies is processed in a fair, transparent and secure manner. This transparency is likely to increase customer confidence in compliant organisations. The commencement date of the Protection of Personal Information Act 40 of 2013 has finally been announced and companies have 12 months, from 1 July 2020, to become compliant or they will face serious financial penalties or legal consequences.

What does this mean for South African hotels and lodges?

All hotels/lodges must adhere to specified rules for handling client information, for example:

Only collect information that you need for a specific purpose.
Effectively destroy documentation using a paper shredder when information is no longer needed.
Apply reasonable security measures to protect personal information gathered.

More information can be obtained at: https://popia.co.za/

CiMSO Software provides a paperless environment and allows sending of mass communication using e-mail and SMS. To help customers comply, it is possible to selectively remove or disable a guest/client’s contact information, on request, from sending them communications. CiMSO provides a comprehensive product manually with every installation explaining how to execute this practice.

CiMSO’s policy is to only collect personal data in a fair and lawful manner that is relevant and necessary as disclosed in CiMSO’s Policy on Security and Privacy of Data. (Form C1-POL-PRIVDA T ’s)

Compliance is the responsibility of each organisation. CiMSO software must be part of your compliance strategy. For more information, you can contact our helpdesk.

CiMSO Cape Town: marketingza@cimso.com T: +27 21 852 2388