Whenever a patient sees a doctor or a specialist or submits a claim, they are required to hand over sensitive personal information. At this stage in South Africa, even without your knowledge, the information you generate is being processed by entities that you may have never interacted with.
Data protection laws must be put in place to protect how Personal Information is used and handled, and it is for this reason that the POPI Act is relevant and so important. It empowers individuals to take back control of their Personal Information and protect it from abuse.
Once the Act is made effective, companies will be given a year’s grace period to comply with the Act, unless this grace period is extended. From that point forward, you may face immense fines if found to be non-compliant.