1. A Guide to PoPIA Compliance
2. 10 Steps to Compliant Data Retention
3. Conclusion

A Guide to PoPIA Compliance

The Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPIA) in South Africa imposes strict requirements on the collection, processing, and retention of personal data.

Organizations must ensure that personal information is collected lawfully, used only for specified purposes, and, according to Section 14, retained for no longer than necessary.

records of personal information must not be retained any longer than is necessary for achieving the purpose for which the information was collected or subsequently processed – PoPIA

10 Steps to Compliant Data Retention

Here are ten steps to help your organization comply with PoPIA’s data retention regulations:

1. Document Data Collection Purposes: Clearly define the purpose for collecting each data point and how it will be processed throughout the customer lifecycle.
2. Establish Deletion Triggers: Specify the events or conditions that will initiate the deletion of data and the corresponding timelines.
3. Justify Delays: If there are delays between the deletion trigger and actual deletion, document the reasons for such delays.
4. Inform Data Subjects: Clearly communicate your data retention practices in your terms of service and contracts with data subjects.
5. Align Organizational and Data Subject Expectations: Ensure that both your organization and data subjects understand the data collection and retention policies.
6. Implement a Data Governance Solution: Utilize a data governance solution to track and manage your organization’s compliance with data retention policies.
7. Define Data Retention Details: For each critical data element, document the deletion trigger, time to deletion, related policy, location of the deletion trigger, and interpretation guidelines.
8. Assess System Compliance: Regularly evaluate your systems’ compliance with data retention policies using a defined process.
9. Monitor Compliance Scores: Track compliance scores and trigger notifications or workflows when they fall below acceptable thresholds.
10. Leverage Dashboards: Use dashboards to visualize compliance scores across critical data elements and systems.

Conclusion

By following these best practices, organizations can ensure compliance with PoPIA’s data retention requirements and protect the privacy of personal information.