Comply with the ICT laws that apply to you

Comply with the ICT laws that apply to you

04/11/2009 – 8:58 am by John Giles

We can help you to comply with the information, communications and technology (ICT) laws that apply to your organisation and manage key risks posed by the use of ICT in organisations. We do this by following these steps:

We make you aware of the ICT laws. We do this by conducting an ICT law seminar. We give you the background to ICT law compliance and an overview of ICT laws.
Online Legal will provide you with more detailed guidance and show you the way to comply. It also includes a list of ICT laws, rules, codes and standards. However, by merely looking at the laws mentioned, it’s not glaringly obvious on the face of it, what the relevant laws are (except in a law such as the ECT Act for example). This is why having a list of the laws is only one part of the solution.
We provide you with advice by applying our experience and knowledge to your specific circumstances.
We conduct an ICT Legal Audit (made up of various components) of your organisation using our ICT Legal Framework as a control tool.
Review your compliance on an ongoing basis - assuring the effectiveness of compliance.

A combination of Online Legal and the ICT Legal Framework is in our view the ideal solution for an organisation to ensure that it does not fall foul of any ICT laws.

ICT Legal Audit

The ICT legal audit essentially serves to highlight compliance issues and key risks across a wide variety of business areas, all of which need to be mitigated and addressed. In order to give you an example of the “territory” that we cover in our audit, we can provide you with a “map” that cites many of the issues covered, together with a brief explanation as to why we consider it to be an issue, together with the legal source of that issue.

At a high level, we follow the following approach for conducting the ICT Legal Audit:

We assess where you (especially your ICT environment) currently are - we do this by assessments and questionnaires - having done this for many years now we know what questions to ask.
We determine the ICT laws that apply to your organisation - identify risks and threats
We then determine the gap between your reality and your compliance - by conducting a gap analysis and risk analysis
We then recommend solutions that you can implement in order to comply - an Action Plan

The deliverable is an ICT Legal Audit Report that includes:

the ICT Legal Framework
A GAP analysis report - including a level of maturity rating in different areas and an overall legal risk status
An action plan

The ICT Legal Framework

The framework brings all ICT laws together and explains:

the topic being dealt with,
the legal issue,
the compliance issue or risk it addresses,
the source of law, and
how to solve the problem it poses.

In order to assist private sector and public sector organisations determine what their compliance obligations are and then meet those obligations, we have developed an ICT Legal Framework that:

addresses the risks posed by the use of ICT in organisations;
provide solutions that will ensure compliance; and
implement best practice where sound business practice, rather than a legal requirement, dictate that risk be addressed.

That framework has been continuously updated and implemented in several organisations in South Africa. The framework will assist any organisation:

comply with the ICT laws that apply to your organisation;
manage key risks; and
implement current best practice.

We have followed a topic based approach, rather than a dealing with one law at a time. It is very comprehensive but also very easy to implement and practical.

If you are a Michalsons Client and would like to read more about the ICT Legal Framework, click here.

If you are not a Michalsons Client and would like to know more about the ICT Legal Framework, please email info@michalsonsattorneys.com.

Next steps

If you would like us to submit a proposal to you in connection with an ICT Legal Audit, please email info@michalsonsattorneys.com or phone us.

Michalsons Attorneys