Why POPIA’s Section 71 Matters For Artificial Intelligence

While many organisations have already adopted artificial intelligence (“AI”), much of the South African discussion has focused on one question: does the country need dedicated AI legislation? And in the meanwhile, many businesses may be overlooking an important existing provision in law.

Section 71 of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) regulates certain forms of automated decision-making. While it was not drafted with today's AI systems in mind, it may already apply to some of the most common AI use cases in the workplace, financial services sector and customer-facing environments.

What does section 71 say?

In simple terms, section 71(1) provides that a data subject may not be subject to a decision which results in legal consequences for them, or which affects them to a substantial degree, where that decision is based solely on the automated processing of personal information intended to provide a profile of that person, including their performance at work,