With the enactment of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”), a fundamental question is posed for medical institutions and medical research facilities in South Africa – does a human’s biological specimen fall within the scope and ambit of POPIA which requires such institutions and facilities to process such specimens in accordance with the principles of POPIA?
A human biological specimen is any material derived from a human such as blood, urine, tissues, organs, saliva, DNA/RNA, hair, nail clippings, or any other cells or fluids - whether collected for research purposes or as residual specimens from diagnostic, therapeutic, or surgical procedures. Given the nature of healthcare services that many healthcare institutions run, the processing of human biological specimens occurs on a daily basis.
The ultimate question to unlocking whether human biological specimens fall within the application of POPIA is to apply the test of application of POPIA contained in section 3(1) of POPIA. Section 3(1) provides that POPIA applies to the processing of personal information that is entered in a record by, or for a responsible party domiciled in South Africa.
Read more here: https://za.andersen.com/news/insights/2022/03/does-popia-regulate-dna-processing
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Marco Schepers
Director, Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions
Email: [email protected]