The Protection of Personal Information Act was signed into law by President Jacob Zuma last week. Once the commencement date is proclaimed, companies will have a year to become fully compliant or face criminal sanctions and civil damages. Experts warn that companies have a significant amount of work to do to ensure their business practices are in line with the basic principles of data processing once the act comes into force...Mark Craddock, KPMG’s specialist on this legislation, says globally there have been several cases of breaches of personal information regulations, with financial institutions being most heavily affected...Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr director Nick Altini says companies will have to be a lot clearer on why they require certain personal data and what they intend doing with it, and they will have to get consent from the individual to be able to use the information in the manner they have indicated. [also refers to Deloitte]