Information Officer Registration Advice
The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI or POPIA) and the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), require an Information Officer to be appointed in all organisations. They also require the appointed officers to register with the Information Regulator.
In early 2021, the Information Regulator set a deadline for Information Officers to register with the Information Regulator by 31 May 2021. An online portal was made available to the public for registration to be completed. The portal was, however, not capable of handling the volume of registrations and was withdrawn.
As a result of the above, the Information Regulator set the obligation aside until further notice and until a more robust registration portal could be provided. To date, there has been no announcement of a new portal. We have recently found that registrations via email is working and that the Information Regulator is issuing registration certificates through the email process. We, therefore, recommend that you register your Information Officer with the Information Regulator if you have not done so already.
In order to register your Information Officer and optionally a Deputy Information Officer, the Registration Form (click here to download) should be completed and sent via email to Registration.IO@inforegulator.org.za . Telephone enquiries can also be made on 010 023 5241/42.
Advice on Appointing the Information Officer
Who should the Information Officer in a Residential Estate be? This should be the Estate Manager or the most senior manager, not the chairman of the Board. POPIA refers to PAIA which states that it should the CEO or equivalent. It is also important to have the Board as part of the privacy governance structure from a sponsorship and oversight perspective.
A Deputy Information Officer can also be appointed in order to conduct the operational tasks for achieving and maintaining compliance but accountability for this cannot be delegated and remains with the Information Officer.
Please contact us on 010 500 1038 or POPI Solutions for further information.