Does POPIA apply to photos and videos of junior players?

Question

Accepted Answer

Yes, when a player can be identified. Personal information is information relating to an identifiable, living natural person. The Act's list of examples is "not limited to" those named (s1). A record under POPIA expressly includes a "photograph, film, negative, tape or other device in which one or more visual images are embodied" (s1). Processing covers almost anything you do with it: taking or collecting, storing, editing, using, sharing, publishing or "making available in any other form", and deleting (s1). A child is anyone under 18 who is not legally competent to take decisions about themselves without the assistance of a competent person (s1). Children's personal information has its own extra rules (s34-35). The main provisions of POPIA came into force on 1 July 2020, and all processing had to comply by 30 June 2021 (Proclamation R21 of 2020; s114(1)). The Act does not apply to purely personal or household use, such as a parent's family photos (s6(1)(a)). Sources: POPIA (Act 4 of 2013) ss 1, 6, 34-35, 114; Proclamation R21, Government Gazette 43461 (22 June 2020).