Author: Contributor
It has been 10 months since the commencement of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). We have taken stock of recent data protection developments and have set out some key learnings to guide you in your POPIA compliance journey. The matric results debacle – the parameters of compliance when publishing personal information At the start of 2022, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) decided not to publish the 2021 matric results on public platforms, as it has traditionally done at the start of each year. The Information Regulator issued a statement following this decision, in which it said…
As the global fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war escalates, and Russia retaliates against sanctions through widespread cyber-attacks, a new “cyber pandemic” is predicted to spread around the world. This situation may cause very serious repercussions for organisations and societies that are caught unprepared. Cybercrime expert Dan Thornton, a military veteran and CEO of cybersecurity awareness training platform GoldPhish, warns that while the world is rushing for cover from cyber-attacks and potential cyber warfare, the insurance industry finds itself in a precarious position – how does it define cyber war? And could it be on the hook for paying claims it…
The world seems to have gone ‘crypto-mad’. Digital currencies like bitcoin, Monero, Ethereum, and even Dogecoin, are all over the internet. Their soaring value promises big wins for investors (if you’re “buying the dip”, that is). And the ‘fortunes’ to be made by mining for virtual money have echoes of gold rushes that formed the first mining towns in South Africa back in the 1800s. Or at least, that’s what many, including a long list of scammers, will have you believe. In reality, if you’re interested in cryptocurrency today, you’re quite possibly at a major risk for fraud. In many…
Gender equality in the workplace has made strides in recent years, but there is still a long way to go before we achieve full equality and inclusion and we must continue to discuss it. According to the World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law 2022 Report, 95 countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work. The WBL Index improved the most in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa in 2021, although they still lag behind the rest of the world. And even among women in positions of power, many feel forced to apologise for juggling a family…
Today, the world commemorates International Women’s Day. Below is a Q&A content piece where Cecelia Regolo shares her personal insights about what working in tech entails and how the pandemic has affected the working environment. Cecelia is a senior Business Development Specialist at Western Digital. As a woman, what have some of your biggest challenges been in your industry? How have you overcome them? As an industry, technology has sometimes been a challenging sector for women to get into, and that’s replicated right the way down to the education level. For example, when I was studying for my Institute of…
The South African Revenue Services (SARS) appears to be reviewing the tax deductibility of donations made after 30 September 2021 to organisations set up to provide economic forms of disaster relief for Covid-19 If you donated to a Covid-19 disaster relief organisation or, as such an organisation, issued a tax-deductible receipt after 30 September 2021, you should take note of divergent interpretations that have emerged of what qualifies as disaster relief within the ambit of the applicable legislative matrix. Covid-19 relief organisations were set up in response to the call by the President for South Africans to stand together in…
A US body has launched a legal challenge to Vizio, a TV manufacturer, for failing to provide the source code for the software in its smart TV, which may have implications for other software developers. Have you ever purchased an electrical appliance or device, only to discover shortly afterwards that the model is obsolete? A US non-profit organization that supports free software (the Software Freedom Conservancy) has launched legal proceedings against a US-based television manufacturer (Vizio) for failing to provide consumers with the source code for the software used in the Vizio smart television. The Software Freedom Conservancy alleges that…
by Peter Grealy, Nozipho Mngomezulu, Karl Blom, Wendy Tembedza, Cindy Leibowitz from Webber Wentzel The President has declared that some parts of the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 (Cybercrimes Act) are operational with effect from 1 December 2021. This follows the signature of the Cybercrimes Act by the President in May 2021. The partial commencement of the Cybercrimes Act ushers in a new era of criminalising the ever-increasing and devastating incidences of digital crime – click here to read more. While we are excited about this new development, we will eagerly await the commencement of the remainder of the Cybercrimes Act to give a full…
Crypto day trading is a very popular trading platform used by traders around the world every day. This is a short-term trading strategy, the main idea of which is to make quick profits. Day traders are buying and selling the cryptocurrency during the same day and this is where the name of this strategy comes from. Day trading is considered to be a high-risk strategy, which takes advantage of the high volatility and liquidity of the crypto trading market. Crypto day trading requires investors to have very deep knowledge and understanding of the market in order to make profits. This…
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on South Africa’s already fragile economy. Add to that the riots and looting, the cost of recovery and Eskom’s load-shedding, and the current picture is bleak. So where to from here? One sector that is important to rebuilding South Africa’s economy is the technology industry. In addition to supporting South Africa’s economic success and prosperity, technology has the potential to establish itself as an emerging leader in innovative ways of thinking about energy, healthcare, education, and many other fields. In this article, we speak with industry experts, who share their perspectives on technology’s role…