An updated version of the Cybercrimes Bill has been published by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. This legislation aims to bridge the gap in South African legislation which has emerged as technology has evolved. On a conceptual level that is a good idea, but there is a great deal of concern that this Bill will allow state-sponsored spying (rather than intercepting communications following an order from a judge or magistrate) and will criminalise ordinary acts on the Internet.
On the positive side a great deal of the overlap between this Bill and the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) has now been removed. Of course security will always be a concern of both POPI and the Cybercrimes Bill and so some overlap is inevitable.
In the coming weeks we will be focussing on what the Cybercrimes Bill says and what that means for your business. In the meantime if you are interested in this Bill you can download it here CyberCrimesBill2017 (PDF -661kb).