Zimbabwe's Data Protection Act
Operationalize DPA Compliance with PrivacyOps Platform
Zimbabwe's Data Protection Act (DPA) formally came into effect on December 3, 2021. First presented as the Cybersecurity and Data Protection Bill in May 2020, the legislation went through multiple rounds of deliberations, modifications, and debates.
The DPA applies to all such processing and storage activities concerning personal data, where the means used, whether electronic or otherwise, are located in Zimbabwe, and such processing and storage is not for the purposes of mere transit of data through Zimbabwe.
The DPA designates the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in Zimbabwe as the ‘Data Protection Authority’ under the Act, which is responsible for regulating the implementation of the DPA’s provisions.
The DPA places stringent obligations upon data controllers and processors to ensure the protection of the personal information of data subjects. The DPA, amongst other things, obligates data controllers and processors to adopt appropriate technical and organizational measures that are necessary to protect data from negligent or unauthorized destruction, negligent loss, unauthorized alteration or access, and any other unauthorized processing of the data.
In the event a data controller or their representative, agent, or assignee contravenes the DPA in respect of the processing of sensitive information, specified duties of the data controller, appropriate technical and organizational measures to be implemented, compliance with the principles and obligations set out in the DPA, or transfer of personal data outside Zimbabwe, they shall be liable to a fine not exceeding level 11 (ZWL$ 400,000) or imprisonment for a period not exceeding seven years or both.
The Solution
Securiti empowers all organizations to ensure compliance with each provision of Zimbabwe's Data Protection Act with the help of its plethora of products, which include, but are not limited to, AI-driven data discovery, DSR automation, universal consent management, autonomous documented accountability, data breach management, vendor risk assessment.
Each of the solutions mentioned above is backed up by state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and machine-learning-based algorithms, making Securiti a market leader in providing data compliance and governance solutions.
See how our comprehensive PrivacyOps platform helps you comply with various sections of Zimbabwe's DPA.
Request a demo today to learn how Securiti can aid you and your organization's compliance with Zimbabwe's DPA.
Automate Handling and Secure Fulfillment of Consumer Data Access Requests
Sections 14(b), 31(2)(c)(iv), 31(2)(c)(vii)
Automate the entire process related to fulfilling consumer data access requests and gain real-time updates on the status of each request via the central dashboard.
Automate Processing of Rectification Requests
Sections 13(f), 14(d)
Automate all data rectification requests and gain real-time updates on their progress via the central dashboard.
Automate Erasure Requests
Sections 13(f), 14(e)
Automate all data erasure requests and monitor their real-time updates via the central dashboard.
Automate Object and Restriction of Processing Requests
Section 14(c)
Automate the framework for catering to all objections and restrictions of data processing requests and simultaneously monitor their real-time updates via the central dashboard.
Monitor and Track Consent
Sections 10, 11, 12, 31(2)(c)(vii)
Ensure compliance with the DPA's consent-related provisions across all major data processing activities by monitoring users' consent status via the central dashboard. Doing so allows organizations to prevent any processing, or potential transfer, sharing, or selling of data to third parties unless explicitly consented to by the users.
Assess Readiness
Sections 7, 8, 9, 13, 24
Automate regular internal assessments of various internal data-related activities and mechanisms to evaluate their effectiveness and make appropriate adjustments accordingly. Doing so ensures that any potential gaps and blindspots are identified and addressed swiftly.
Automate Data Breach Response Notifications
Section 19
Automate data breach response notifications to all concerned stakeholders as soon as legally obliged by leveraging a knowledge database on security incident diagnosis and response.
Manage Vendor Risk
Sections 7(3), 17, 28, 29
Keep track of all the organization's third-party vendors' data processing activities in real-time to ensure their data processing practices in relation to the data shared with them comply with the applicable legal requirements.
Meet Cookie Compliance
Sections 10, 11, 12
Automate your organization's entire cookie consent management to ensure all cookies used across the data infrastructure comply with the legal requirements.
Privacy Policy and Notice Management
Sections 15, 16
Automate the generation of a privacy policy that adequately informs the users about your organization's data processing practices while being fully compliant with all applicable provisions of law.
Key Rights Under Zimbabwe's Data Protection Act
A data subject is entitled to the following rights with respect to the processing of their personal data:
Right to Be Informed
The right to be informed of how their personal data is being used.
Right to Access
The right to access their personal data collected by a data processor or controller.
Right to Modification
The right to correction of false or misleading personal data.
Right to Object
The right to object to the processing of all or part of their personal data.
Right to Deletion
The right to deletion of false or misleading data.
Facts Related To Zimbabwe's Data Protection Act
The DPA mandates data controllers and processors to respect the right to privacy of data subjects and follow principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimization, and accuracy. Further, a valid explanation should be provided where information relating to family or private affairs is required.
The DPA, with a few specified exceptions, does not allow the transfer of personal data to a third party who is in a foreign country, unless an adequate level of protection is ensured in the recipient’s country, or within the recipient's international organization and the data is transferred solely to allow the performance of tasks covered by the competence of the controller.
If an entity is convicted of an offense under the DPA, the relevant court may order the deletion of data or the seizure of media containing the data relating to the offense, including manual filing systems, magnetic discs or magnetic tapes, except for computers or any other equipment. Such seizure or deletion may be ordered where the media containing the data does not belong to the entity convicted. The objects seized shall be destroyed.
The controller or their representative are made liable under the DPA for the payment of fines incurred by their agent or assignee.
The Zimbabwean DPA is one of the few data regulations that explicitly mandates the formulation of rules which shall authorize and govern the whistleblowing system in relation to personal data protection.
At Securiti, our mission is to enable enterprises to safely harness the incredible power of data and the cloud by controlling the complex security, privacy and compliance risks.
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