The imminent enforcement of the POPI Act (Protection of Personal Information) has put the cat amongst the pigeons. Organisations around South Africa are looking at the regulations and working out how best to ensure that they are compliant. This has come with a fair amount of frustration for many.
However, the POPI Act may not be as bad as many believe it to be. In fact, it could well be a major benefit to your business.
International individuals and organisations will be happier
For one thing, if you deal with any international companies or individuals, your business will look a lot better to them once you are POPI compliant. Online privacy has become a hot topic around the world, with Australia, the European Union and various states across the US all creating strong policies to combat a lack of cyber security.
People and organisations from such regions dealing with companies in South Africa will likely feel a lot better about their personal information once POPI has been enforced. Confidence in South Africa, with respect to this issue, will only grow – benefiting our economy.
Your data will become a priority
It’s true, becoming compliant with the POPI Act will take time, effort and some money in order to get the right processes and security in place. However, putting a focus on protecting your company data is not actually a bad thing. For too many, cyber security has been seen as an added extra as opposed to a necessity as we’ve moved through the first two decades of the 21st century.
Technology and the way we do business have both changed radically in the last 20 years. The importance of protecting data that we collect does not seem to have caught up until now.
You can simplify your business operations
By putting a focus onto protecting data and getting a solid infrastructure in place, you can actually simplify the way your business operates. At Netgen, we believe it’s important to embrace this time of change – even though this year has already thrown so much change at us – and use the implementation of the POPI Act to improve some internal structures that may have been on the back burner for too long.
If you’re looking for a custom software partner to help you through the process of becoming compliant, come and talk to us. We’re ensuring our own business is compliant and have taken this time to work out solutions that could improve the way we keep information safe.