POPIA Code of Conduct for Research

On 1 July 2021, the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA or the Act), No. 4 of 2013, will come into effect. The Act will have implications for all research activities that involve the collection, processing, and storage of personal information. POPIA provides for the development of Codes of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:South African Journal of Science 2021-05, Vol.117 (5-6), p.20-31
Main Authors: Adams, Rachel Margaret, Adeleke, Fola, Anderson, Dominique Elizabeth, Bawa, Ahmed C., Branson, Nicola, Christoffels, Alan, de Vries, Jantina, Etheredge, Harriet Rosanne, Flack-Davison, Eleni, Gaffley, Mark, Marks, Monique, Mdhluli, Mongezi, Mahomed, Safia, Molefe, Mapitso, Muthivhi, Tshilidzi, Ncube, Caroline B., Olckers, Antonel, Papathanasopoulos, Maria A., Pillay, Jane, Schonwetter, Tobias, Singh, Jerome Amir, Swanepoel, Carmen, Ramsay, Michèle
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Consent
Data integrity
Data processing
data protection
Discussion document
Ethics
Information processing
Medical research
Open science
Personal information
protection of personal information
Research ethics
Research participants
Third party
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Summary:On 1 July 2021, the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA or the Act), No. 4 of 2013, will come into effect. The Act will have implications for all research activities that involve the collection, processing, and storage of personal information. POPIA provides for the development of Codes of Conduct to guide the interpretation of the Act with respect to a particular sector or class of information.1 Codes of Conduct are particularly important for providing for prior authorisations in terms of Section 57 of POPIA for the sector to which it applies. Prior authorisations are required for using unique identifiers of personal information in data processing activities, and for sharing special personal information or the personal information of children with countries outside of South Africa that do not have adequate data protection laws. In order to understand and functionally interpret the provisions of POPIA for the research community in the Republic of South Africa (South Africa), the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is leading a process to develop a Code of Conduct (Code) for research under the Act. A Code can be developed by the Information Regulator or by a public or private body deemed 'sufficiently representative' of the bodies in respect of the particular class of information or sector to which the Code will apply. During 2020, ASSAf was approached by scientists in South Africa to consider the development of a Code for research, and public events were held during Open Access Week in October 2020, and Science Forum South Africa in December 2020, to further discuss the role of ASSAf in this regard. A Commentary published in this issue sets out the full rationale for the development of the Code by ASSAf and details the consultation process to date. Within the research setting, POPIA regulates the processing of personal information for research purposes, and the flow of data across South Africa's borders to ensure that any limitations on the right to privacy are justified and aimed at protecting other important rights and interests. The new regulatory system that POPIA establishes will function alongside other legislation and regulatory structures governing research in South Africa, as outlined below. The law which takes precedent will be that which provides the most comprehensive protections to the rights of individuals in South Africa.This paper sets out the key discussion points in relation to the development of the Code. It is intended
ISSN:0038-2353
1996-7489
DOI:10.17159/sajs.2021/10933