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contact details in response to an
enquiry relating to functions that
this employee performs, but there
would not be any justification for
disclosing his personal address or
bank.
(ii) Only allow designated employees
to deal with request for disclosure.
(iii) Proposed steps to take when
you are approached by a third
party requesting the disclosure
of personal information about an
employee, client, etc.:
- Request the said third party to
put his request in writing and if
possible to provide you with a
statement setting out the reasons
for which the data is requested, the
length of time for which the data
will be held and an undertaking
that the data will be held and
processed according to POPI
principles;
- Do not give original personal
information documents. Rather
provide the enquirer with copies of
the originals, certified if needed;
- Where the request relates to the
prevention/detection of crime,
the apprehension/prosecution of
offenders, assessment/collection of
any tax or duty, or the discharge of
regulatory functions, appropriate
paperwork should be produced
by the enquirer to support their
request (e.g. official documentation
stating that the information is
required in support of an ongoing
investigation);
- Remember to inform the data
subject, before disclosing the
information, that you received such
a request.
Finally
This article was not meant as a how-to
regarding POPI, but simply to alert you
to a piece of legislation that is on its
way. How it will be implemented within
the framework of veterinary science
remains to be seen, but it does not
detract from the need to start getting
your house in order regarding the flow
and processing of personal information
as expected by POPI.
References:
1. Protection of Personal Information
Act, Act No. 4 of 2013
2. Crib notes: POPI is here for you.
03-crib-notes-popi-is-here-for-you
(accessed 8 May 2015)
3. Data Protection Policy: Disclosure
of Data;
dpa/policy/disclosure/ (accessed
8 June 2015)
4. What is POPI: The Protection of
Personal Information (POPI) Act
explained:
featured/popi/ (accessed 30 April
2015)
5. Managing personal data in the
workplace:
pdf/1-4-Managing-personal-data-in-
the-workplace-Collier.pdf (accessed
9 June 2015)
Acknowledgement
I wish to express my gratitude to
Dr P Sparrow for his assistance. v
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