How DocuWare Truly Helps To Implement The POPI (The Protection of Personal Information Act) Compliant Handling Of Personal Data?

The Protection of Personal Information Act, referred to as POPI or PoPIA, is South Africa’s equivalent of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). POPI applies to processing of personal data for both South African citizens and those living in South Africa. Experiences from EU showed us that there is no one single technology that meets all GDPR requirements. That is why we believe that there is no single technology that meets all POPI/POPIA requirements. An organization must adopt a holistic information management strategy to comply. Paper records and electronic documents contain personal identifiable information. That is why document management and workflow automation solutions play a key role in information management strategy to comply with compliance requirements of POPI. As DocuWare offers both a document management and a workflow automation our customers find it easier to address some of the POPIA compliance requirements.

What is PoPIA?

The Protection of Personal Information Act, commonly known as the PoPI Act, is an Act of South Africa, passed in 2012. It requires all organizations that handle personal information to obtain specific permissions before processing such information. It also states that the owner of the personal information (the organization) has to process the information in compliance with privacy laws. Other than having to follow POPI provisions, most South African organizations comply by the following measures:

• Gaining explicit consent from customers for processing their data
• Disclosing detailed information about how personal information is processed
• Obtaining consent before data is shared with third parties
• Providing a mechanism for customers to be able to check and modify their

Why is this important?

As with GDPR compliance with POPIA is imposed with severe financial fines. If an organization fails to comply with the POPI Act, whether intentional or accidental, it can be liable for an administrative fine of up to R10 million. If your clients are impacted by a data breach, POPIA even empowers them to take civil action for damages.

That is why addressing POPIA is crucial for each South African company. From DocuWare perspective we suggest to perceive any privacy laws including POPIA as a good business practice. It can help companies to manage, optimize and streamline the customer related processes. The basic questions that we should ask ourselves:

• why would we want to keep outdated obsolete customer data?
• where our data resides?
• what are the retention periods on the documents?
• who can access the documents?
• do we have security procedures and audit trails in place?

Most of organizations still are deciding how to address the above. The longer one decides the higher exposure and risk to the organization.

Why choose DocuWare?

With POPI your organization needs a safe, secure home for critical business documents. Employee information, financial records, contracts and more require an organized, secure repository that protects what must not be lost, stolen or compromised. When business documents like invoices, employee applications, vendor contracts, facility documentation, sales presentations and more are safely archived and fully organized, your organization can protect itself against litigation, leaks and loss while realizing key benefits of digitization.

Document management system helps maintain compliance with the POPI act by ensuring the proper segregation of personal data. A robust, all-in-one solution is a perfect fit for smaller businesses. The solutions’ single-platform can automate your document management system’s needs. DocuWare helps you to consolidate your document management systems with point-to-point communication and workflow automation. A single solution that spans from document storage, to scanning and management, to document retrieval and approval, to data processing, and then the archiving of the files. Using DocuWare, your company gains the ability to:

• Locate and access personal data stored in and processed with your documents
• Export, correct and delete personal data (for example, deleting data helps comply with the new “right to be forgotten” article)
• Ensure that personal data is protected and not processed further

What now?

We have helped many customers to comply with GRPR. We know that we can help our customers in South Africa to comply with POPIA requirements. If POPI represents challenge for you and your company please contact DocuWare or one of our Authorized Partners.

What is the next step for you? Set up you free trial and see how your organization can benefit from DocuWare or contact one of our Authorized Partners.

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