Webber Wentzel has taken various additional measures in order to more easily demonstrate its compliance with POPIA, and these reinforce its existing extensive security around confidential information
As a law firm, Webber Wentzel has always been deeply committed to maintaining confidentiality in all its dealings with clients. Over the past year, the firm has taken extra steps to buttress its internal processes and information security systems to comply with the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
Here are some of the key measures we have put in place to comply with POPIA:
- Appointing its General Counsel, Alisdair Lawson, as our Information Officer, to ensure that we comply with the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA) and POPIA.
- Reinforcing our measures to safeguard information. For example, we have looked at how we manage all staff devices to ensure secure use of applications that contain client data, which includes using multi-factor authentication to access those applications. We have, amongst other measures, prioritised encryption of data, email communication and all endpoints, entrenched role-based access and enhanced our perimeter security.
- Regularly training our staff on data privacy and information security best practices.
- Revising our privacy policy, which outlines how we process personal information in compliance with POPIA. We also added an “opt-in” clause for non-clients to receive marketing material.
- Providing a facility for clients to manage their subscription or marketing preferences or to query any aspect of our privacy policy. Queries can be sent to us at: Dataprotection@webberwentzel.com.
- Updating the firm's PAIA manual to align it with POPIA.
In the countdown to the POPIA compliance deadline of 30 June 2021, we also continuously advised and assisted our clients in obtaining POPIA compliance. We have published a number of articles on the implications of POPIA for various business sectors, which can be accessed on our website.
Webber Wentzel has a number of specialists who can offer in-depth advice on POPIA-related matters.
