By Natasha | October 28, 2011 @ 1:23 pm
Data Protection & Corporate Governance Compliance Acts in South Africa

Compliance & Legalities around business Data Protection in South Africa
Protecting data correctly and effectively is a paramount business continuity imperative. Not only do organizations with ineffective data protection strategies face the immediate costs and productivity interruption of data loss, they leave themselves vulnerable to data theft, unauthorised access to confidential files and are liable for legal penalties and criminal consequences due to failed corporate governance compliance.
Responsibility for protection of data cannot be left as IT’s problem- stewardship and buy-in is required at an executive level to avoid negligence, prevent reputational damage and to implement a solution that addresses areas of vulnerability.
The reality of data mismanagement is increasingly consequential. Failure to address your organization’s risks with urgency only increases exposure and the probability of suffering financial and legal penalties.
Often however, Acts and Reports are long-winded, making them difficult to digest and complicated to drill down to tangible and actionable items. However, without securing your data and ensuring that your data protection covers all the bases- the personal and organizational consequences can be detrimental.
We’ve broken down the main Acts and Reports pertaining to data protection in enterprise environments and placed them in the table above as an easy reference, there are certain guidelines & requirements that all companies must follow:
