The changes to the WhatsApp privacy policy and terms sparked a worldwide uproar with many users migrating to other messaging platforms out of data privacy and security concerns. This article addresses the above concerns by explaining the new changes and what social media users need to know before moving on to other platforms. What are the changes? In an effort [...]
On January 12, 2021, the French Data Protection Authority (Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertes – the “CNIL”) held that French Ministry of the Interior (the “Ministry”) was unlawfully processing personal information through the use of drones equipped with cameras. These drones were being used to monitor the public’s compliance with containment measures and public demonstrations. The Ministry was ordered to [...]
Introduction If we put aside the misery around Covid-19 for a moment, we can notice that a lot of exciting developments have taken place and are still taking place in South Africa’s legislative landscape. We are 5 months away from POPIA[1] coming into full effect. By 1 July of this year, both private and public companies, organisations and institutions will [...]
What is Decentralised Finance? Decentralised Finance (DeFi for short) is a financial system built on public blockchains such as BitCoin and Ethereum. Blockchains refer to a list of data records that work as a decentralised digital lender. The data in a specific blockchain is organised into blocks, which is chronologically arranged and secured by cryptography. The oldest and safest blockchain [...]
Recently, the parliamentary committee on security and justice, adopted the Cybercrimes Bill (“the Bill”) along with several other pieces of legislation. The Bill establishes and defines procedures in which cyber-related crimes can be investigated and creates various new offences for crimes committed on the internet. One of the most important aspects the Bill addresses is that it criminalises the distribution [...]
Technology continues to challenge the legal system and sometimes laws battle to keep up with the speed at which technology is changing, and the various new technologies that are launched. The Tech Legal Matters podcast explores cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection and other similar topics at the intersection of technology and the law. Subscribe to this podcast, published by iAfrikan [...]
The speed of digital innovation and the emergence of technologies such as facial recognition and fingerprint authentication has brought with it privacy and cybersecurity concerns. In the recent months, after the killing of George Floyd, law enforcement authorities in the United States deployed powerful surveillance tools to monitor and track the protests against systemic racism and police brutality. Drones were [...]
On 15 March, due to the Covid - 19 pandemic, the state issued an order which prohibits the holding of public meetings. These clear measures were introduced to combat the spread of Covid – 19 and are expected to influence the chosen format of annual general meetings (“AGMs”) for a long time. Against this background of the Covid - 19 [...]
The fourth industrial revolution (“4IR”) is causing significant changes to the way we live, interact and do business. This is the future of technology, where objects, machines and various other devices connect with each other in a secure, networked environment. 4IR is being driven by intelligent machines that can perform complex tasks automatically by communicating with other machines, with little [...]
Here's a link to a very useful guide on South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, prepared by Delphine Daversin and Melody Musoni as part of the International Comparative Legal Guide (ICLG) - Data protection law and Regulations 2020. This guide, published by Global Legal Guide (GLG) is available on line for 39 jurisdictions. It also includes expert analysis chapters [...]
