Results of 2023 public opinion survey and a responsible party survey: on awareness about the right to privacy as it relates to the protection of personal information

Section 39 of the Protection of Personal Information Act 2013 (POPIA) establishes the Information Regulator (the Regulator) as a juristic person. Section 30(1)(a) requires the Regulator to provide education to data subjects and responsible parties on the lawful processing of personal information, and to give data subjects advice in the exercise of their rights. However, the concepts of lawful processing of personal information or the protection of personal information are relatively new in the South African landscape. This reality is reflected in the relative paucity of literature on POPIA.