POPIA Policy.

1. What POPIA is about:

The Protection of Personal Information protects personal information from misuse and abuse.

Visit https://popia.co.za/ to access the Act. Remember that Act 4 of 2013 is your primary source on all things POPIA.

2. Where to find key definitions: Click here for a list of key definitions: https://popia.co.za/section-1-definitions/.

3. What are your rights as a data subject?

It includes, but is not limited to:

• You may object to the Processing of your Personal Information.
• You may establish whether a Responsible Party holds your Personal Information.
• You may request that the Personal Information held by a Responsible Party by corrected or destroyed.
• You may refuse the processing of your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes, such as unsolicited electronic communications.
• You have the right to be notified before your Personal Information is used for a purpose other than the purpose you consented to it being collected and used for.
• You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator, as constituted in terms of POPIA and any regulations thereto, against the Responsible Party, and to institute civil proceedings against that party.

4. The Press Council of South Africa and POPIA

The Press Council of South Africa provides a self-regulatory mechanism by means of which public complaints against members of the media are adjudicated.

Members of the public have the right to institute complaints against subscriber member publications by contacting the Press Council of South Africa. Click here to access the Press Council of South Africa’s Constitution. Click here to access the Press Council’s Complaint’s Procedure.

In investigating and adjudicating complaints, the Press Council and its representatives obtain and process personal information of complainants. In other words, doing so is part and parcel of the Council executing its duties.

Whenever a complaint is investigated, exchanges of personal information will be necessitated. Correspondence will be exchanged between, among others, the Press Council’s Public Advocate, administrative personnel, the Ombud, Deputy Ombuds, the Adjudication Panel, Appeals Committee, Chair of Appeals, the media members involved, subjects of reportage, and other relevant parties.

5. Press Council Rulings are published publicly.

Complainants agree that the personal information they provide during hearings will become part of the public record.

If there is personal information that has not yet been made public (through publication) and that features in the ruling, and where the subject to whom it relates wishes for it not to be divulged, that subject has the right to request that it be omitted from the public ruling. Such requests must be made to the Executive Director in writing and will be considered on a case-by-case basis in line with the contents of POPIA.

6. General Processing

If, and when, personal information is obtained or processed during the execution of the duties of the South African Press Council, the Council undertakes to:

• Take reasonable steps to ensure that we comply with the Act.
• Act responsibly and lawfully when obtaining and processing Personal Information.
• Inform Data Subjects of the purpose of collecting their Personal Information before obtaining it.
• Process Personal Information for lawful purposes only, such as for the purposes of executing our duties.
• Obtain consent from Data subjects before obtaining their Personal Information.
• Inform Data Subjects of their right to object having their personal information
  processed.
• Ensure that Data Subjects’ Personal Information is handled and stored safely and responsibly.
• Inform Data Subjects of their rights to have their Personal Information updated, and the right to request it being deleted or destroyed.
• Destroy Personal Information when we no longer need it for its intended purpose, or legal or financial reasons.
• Honour Data Subjects’ rights.

We follow the principles of lawful processing when dealing with personal information. This means, among other things, that we take reasonable steps to ensure that our personal information records are updated and accurate. We are open about our practices and implement reasonable security safeguards when dealing with personal information.

The Press Council of SA is satisfied that the Press Code is compliant with the provisions of POPIA read with the Constitution of RSA, 1996 and that it contains the required provisions and safeguards to ensure the protection of person information while at the same time enabling it to discharge its mandate and responsibilities effectively as detailed in the Constitution.

Our company’s Information Protection Officer is Latiefa Mobara. You can contact her at 011 4843612.

You can contact the Information Regulator at [email protected].