The Protection of Personal Information Act, No 4 of 2013 (POPIA), which was significantly amended in the middle of 2020, came into full effect on 1 July 2021.
WPS have always taken confidentiality of our clients’ affairs very seriously, so we see the implementation of POPIA as a natural extension of our existing policies and procedures in this regard. We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and ensuring transparency when handling your personal information, and with this in mind we draw your attention to our latest Privacy Notice.
Know your rights
Personal information must be processed lawfully and in a reasonable manner that does not infringe your privacy. Compliance with POPIA will be mandatory for most organizations in South Africa and we urge you to understand, question and exercise your rights under the new data privacy laws.
Changing the way we do business
WPS have always paid great attention to privacy, confidentiality and security. It is a WPS imperative that clients and referrals be informed and equipped with the knowledge to empower them to play their part in protecting themselves too.
- We have introduced the use of the QuicklySign electronic signature application, to send you your documents via their encrypted platform, which uses 2-factor authentication as a notable security feature.
- We have upgraded the WPS client Wealth Portal, where we ensure that copies of all documentation signed are stored here for your perusal, as opposed to emailed copies which may be intercepted.
- WPS promote the use of digital approval methods when approving transactions with our Service Providers, which also make use of 2-factor authentication.
- All reviews, policy and investment schedules or other PDF documents which contain sensitive and confidential information about your financial portfolio will be password encrypted.
- We are able to share password-protected folders via the OneDrive application.
- We will only ever communicate with you through verified channels (such as the email address or cellphone number you have provided to us). We will require your written, express consent to transmit your data in another format or to any unverified or unauthorised third party.
Ultimately, we want to maximise secure, digital and paperless ways of interacting with you so as to prevent your data falling into the wrong hands.
What do you need to do and what should you do?
You do not need to do anything, other than to take note of the steps which we are taking to both continue to comply with POPIA and to optimise our internal processes and procedures. Some of these steps may affect you in that, for example, whilst in the past you may have received a PDF statement from us without an additional layer of password protection, you will now be prompted to enter a password to open the document.
What should you do? We live in an age where, sadly, the interception of communications – particularly electronic communications – which contain personal or confidential information can compromise you. You should consider what steps you should take to prudently protect yourself and your data, and how you receive, collate, store, update, modify, retrieve, use and disseminate this information.
As ever, our team are committed to excellent client service.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.