With POPIA due to be implemented on 1 July, the IAB South Africa has launched a handy guide to help members on their journey to compliance.
A Practical Guide to Data Protection for the Advertising Industry in South Africa “will serve as a supportive guide that will assist our members in ensuring legal compliance with relevant data protection frameworks to enable them to continue to process information in a reasonable and responsible manner”, the IAB SA said in a press release.
“While data protection laws may disrupt some of the ways in which the industry operates, they can be of great benefit to industry members too. By protecting the data we are privy to, we are able to increase consumer trust (as well as that of investors and the general public), therefore fostering customer loyalty and ultimately improving brand value,” said Paula Hulley, CEO of the IAB SA.
“There has been a marked increase in members of the public demanding agency over their personal information. It is now time for the advertising industry to step up and show its commitment to respecting and protecting personal information and to assist the public in making informed decisions.” The IAB SA believes data has never been as valuable – or as vulnerable – as it is today.
With a membership of more than 150 media companies, brands and technology firms, the Interactive Advertising Bureau South Africa empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. The non-profit, non-government trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, publishers and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing.
As such, it recognises the significance of the data-driven era and its repercussions for the digital marketing and advertising industries, but also that it has also presented a veritable minefield of challenges around safeguarding the very data that the media industry relies on. The protection of personal information is about honouring the fundamental human rights of dignity, equality, and autonomy. It is therefore our constitutional imperative to respect the privacy rights of the persons with whom we engage, it said.
“It is our hope that this guide will serve as a handbook for POPIA compliance best practice, and will assist our members in the practical application of the processing of personal data in a way that is both compliant and honours the constitutional rights to privacy and access to information,” said IAB SA legal and regulation director, Songezo Ralarala.
For this reason the IAB SA has prioritised the need to support members with data protection compliance, approaching it from a rights-based lens that is duly cognisant of its commitment to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and other relevant legal frameworks, such as the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, and the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000.
The launch of this guide is the first step in the IAB South Africa’s broader strategy. Additional initiatives include training workshops on data protection compliance, advisory notes for members, and continued engagement with the Transparency and Consent Framework pioneered by the IAB Europe.
For any queries or to learn more about the IAB South Africa, please visit www.iabsa.net. To download the guide on the IAB SA member portal click here.
