South Africans are all too trusting when it comes to their personal information, and that can be dangerous. Sarel Lamprecht, MD of leading cyber insurance company Phishield says that very few South Africans realise that when they hand over their ID cards for scanning to get into a building or a complex, or even to rent a video, they are handing over enough details to open themselves up to ID fraud.personal-information-online
“Until the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) is in full force, there’s very little anyone can do to stop this. PoPI lays down rules about collecting and storing personal information such as your ID, name, address and even faith,” he explains.
“However, many people find themselves forced to hand over their ID cards – which contains several bits of information including fingerprints – to people they don’t even know just to get into a building. While this request is legal, it’s also your right to ask where this information is being stored, and who has access to it.”
