Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (Act No. 4 of 2013)Chapter 3 : Conditions for Lawful Processing of Personal InformationPart A : Processing of personal information in generalCondition 3 : Purpose specification14. Retention and restriction of records |
| (1) | Subject to subsections (2) and (3), records of personal information must not be retained any longer than is necessary for achieving the purpose for which the information was collected or subsequently processed, unless— |
| (a) | retention of the record is required or authorised by law; |
| (b) | the responsible party reasonably requires the record for lawful purposes related to its functions or activities; |
| (c) | retention of the record is required by a contract between the parties thereto; or |
| (d) | the data subject or a competent person where the data subject is a child has consented to the retention of the record. |
| (2) | Records of personal information may be retained for periods in excess of those contemplated in subsection (1) for historical, statistical or research purposes if the responsible party has established appropriate safeguards against the records being used for any other purposes. |
| (3) | A responsible party that has used a record of personal information of a data subject to make a decision about the data subject, must— |
| (a) | retain the record for such period as may be required or prescribed by law or a code of conduct; or |
| (b) | if there is no law or code of conduct prescribing a retention period, retain the record for a period which will afford the data subject a reasonable opportunity, taking all considerations relating to the use of the personal information into account, to request access to the record. |
| (4) | A responsible party must destroy or delete a record of personal information or de-identify it as soon as reasonably practicable after the responsible party is no longer authorised to retain the record in terms of subsection (1) or (2). |
| (5) | The destruction or deletion of a record of personal information in terms of subsection (4) must be done in a manner that prevents its reconstruction in an intelligible form. |
| (6) | The responsible party must restrict processing of personal information if— |
| (a) | its accuracy is contested by the data subject, for a period enabling the responsible party to verify the accuracy of the information; |
| (b) | the responsible party no longer needs the personal information for achieving the purpose for which the information was collected or subsequently processed, but it has to be maintained for purposes of proof; |
| (c) | the processing is unlawful and the data subject opposes its destruction or deletion and requests the restriction of its use instead; or |
| (d) | the data subject requests to transmit the personal data into another automated processing system. |
| (7) | Personal information referred to in subsection (6) may, with the exception of storage, only be processed for purposes of proof, or with the data subject’s consent, or with the consent of a competent person in respect of a child, or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person or if such processing is in the public interest. |
| (8) | Where processing of personal information is restricted pursuant to subsection (6), the responsible party must inform the data subject before lifting the restriction on processing. |