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 [...]
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 [...]
South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced yesterday that the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 will be fully effective from 1 July 2020.[1] This is great news for SA because it enhances its plans to grow its digital economy. For example, if SA is able to show that its data privacy law is adequate for the European Union’s purposes, more [...]
The spread of COVID-19 has negatively influenced the output of work at a global level. It has affected nearly every sector and has ultimately halted cross border trade. As the coronavirus unfolds across countries, many firms have adopted a policy which allows their employees to work remotely. However, considering the number of law firms that are wholly reliant on paper [...]
Within the past month, we have gone from mainly needing to authenticate and verify documents through a physical (wet-ink) signature to an era where the need to authenticate and verify documents online is inevitable. We have effectively moved from paper-based certification and verification to electronic authentication This effectively, all in a bid to safeguard against the COVID – 19 pandemic, [...]
In 2010 the notion of the use of electronic communication by courts was a rumour in South Africa’s judicial system. It’s interesting to note that, because of an unprecedented consequence of the global pandemic, the courts, like the other branches of state power, have taken drastic measures to reduce the local transmission of Covid - 19. The courts are hoping [...]
In last night’s update on the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that “Using mobile technology, an extensive tracing system will be rapidly deployed to trace those who have been in contact with confirmed coronavirus cases and to monitor the geographical location of new cases in real time.” You may ask: What about my right to privacy? What [...]
On 10 March, the Competition Commission announced that Vodacom has agreed to reduce their data prices by at least 30% from 1 April 2020. This announcement comes as a result of a data services market inquiry performed by the Competition Commission which focused particularly on the high prices of data provided by telecommunications giants MTN and Vodacom. The report highlighted [...]
