Whether you’re a compliance expert or a novice, adhering to data privacy laws confuses even the best of companies. One of the key points of confusion is the fact that you can’t possibly comply with current and future laws without knowing what data you collect, where it goes, and how it’s used and retained. It sounds simple, but it is not. In fact, it’s a challenge that applies to nearly every organization today.

It's been a while; there has been a debate between GDPR and POPIA. Both compliances have made quite a mark since their inception. The South African Protection of Personal Act, also known as POPIA, means to provide South African citizens control over their data. It also makes all organizations processing the personal information in South Africa legally responsible to protect the data.

In November of 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) which authorizes a plan to invest $1.2 trillion into the nation's infrastructure. This bipartisan infrastructure bill plans to bolster the transportation, energy, water, utility sectors, and state and local governments. An important provision within the IIJA is the allocation of $2 billion towards enhancing the cybersecurity of government organizations.

The pandemic has caused havoc on business and personal lives. It also highlighted the importance of personal data and its vulnerability. To combat this, governments across the globe have reviewed and modulated their privacy laws and regulations. Including the African governments and legislators. Over the recent years, Internet usage has increased significantly on the African continent. The usage was aided by continued investment in local digital infrastructure and improved user access.

With the rapid proliferation of data privacy laws, it’s no wonder mid-sized organizations are having a hard time keeping up with all of the new regulations. In addition, many companies struggle with understanding how rapidly evolving legislation might apply to them. For example, if you’re a U.S.-based company that does business from North Dakota, you might not be concerned about privacy laws abroad.

Data privacy is a priority objective for businesses today, particularly after the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became enforceable in 2018, as this law protects European citizens’ personal data and requires organizations to change some of their work processes.

Illustrated by Dorathe Victor The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is well-known if you are an organization based out of Canada. In place for more than 20 years, it sets out rules for how businesses should collect, use, and disclose personal information while dealing in commercial activities. Some pieces of personally identifiable information (PII) that are protected under PIPEDA are name, age, ID number, income, ethnic origin, blood type, and more.

The first months of 2022 began slowly for privacy, but by the end of the first quarter we had our marching orders for the rest of the year. In the U.S., we saw an explosion of state privacy bills being put forward (again), the Senate utilized a seldom used maneuver to push President Biden’s Federal Trade Commission nominee through to confirmation, and Utah became the fourth state to enact comprehensive privacy legislation.