Interception of Communications - what now?!

At last !! The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communications-Related Information Act, number 70 of 2002, and also known as RIC Act, except for sections 40 and 62(6), is now law. No more jumping between the aforesaid Act and the Prohibition and Monitoring Act of 1992.

What next? What will be the impact on your business?
Be careful for certain Service Providers that will now all of a sudden sell you 'new' policies.

1. This very important Act can not be dealt with in isolation and will have to be implemented, if not already part of your business, in combination with other very important legislation, for example the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002, The Labour Relations Act 1995, and draft Directives that have already been issued to various operators in the Cellular and Telecommunication Industry;
2. A single policy is not the solution to all and will it be imperative for your business to review the following:-

• Employment Agreements;
• Independent Contractors Agreements;
• Service Provider Agreements;
• eCommunication Policy (and yes, keep it technology neutral);
• eMail Legal Notice, to be attached to every single email that leaves your business;
• For certain Industries it might be useful to implement a Interception of Communications Policy, e.g. Cellular Operators etc.;
• Records Management Policy, specifically focussing on the retention of certain records for evidential purposes or for example where, as per a specific Directive, your Company is required to retain the records then retention of records as prescribed by law;
• Disciplinary Codes to be reviewed;
• Data Retention Policy

(please take note that the above is not an exhaustive list and will definitely varies from Company to Company)

Again, this should not be an expensive exercise but definitely an exercise that should be executed sooner than later...

For more details, assistance or quote, please feel free to refer to our website and more specifically the section called eCommunications where you can select certain deliverables and request a quote. The eVG Policy Manager (see eVG Services), for implementation of the above mentioned, may also be of interest to your company