| Authority: | North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction: | South Africa |
| Relevant law: | Section 11(1)(a)-(f) of POPIA; National Policy Pertaining to the Conduct, Administration and Management of the National Senior Certificate Examination and Regulations; Section 28(2) of the Constitution |
| Type: | Own Initiative Assessment |
| Outcome: | No Violation |
| Started: | N/A |
| Decided: | 8 January 2025 |
| Published: | N/A |
| Fine: | N/A |
| Parties: | Information Regulator v Minister of Basic Education and 6 Others (150121/2024) [2025] ZAGPPHC 2 |
| Case No.: | 150121/2024 |
| Appeal: | N/A |
| Original Source: | SAFLII |
| Original contributor: | MZIZI Africa |
Contents
The Information Regulator (IR) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) are in a legal dispute over the publication of matric results in newspapers. The IR argues this violates the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) because exam numbers can be used to identify students. The IR issued an enforcement notice and a R5 million fine to the DBE, which the DBE is appealing. While the Pretoria High Court ruled in favour of the DBE on the publication, the IR's enforcement notice remains in effect until the appeal is resolved.
The dispute centres around the publication of matric results in newspapers by the Department of Basic Education (DBE), and whether this practice complies with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
The Information Regulator (IR) contends that publishing matric results alongside student exam numbers in newspapers constitutes a violation of POPIA.
The IR issued an Enforcement Notice to the DBE on 6 November 2024, instructing the department to cease publishing matric results in newspapers. They argued that the DBE had failed to secure consent from learners or their guardians before publishing the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results in newspapers, thus violating sections of POPIA.
The IR asserts that, despite the use of exam numbers, the sequential nature of the numbering system undermines anonymity. They argue that students are seated sequentially during exams, and this order is reflected in the published results. This allows individuals to deduce the results of others based on their seating positions, effectively compromising anonymity. The IR maintains that even exam numbers constitute personal information and must be handled in accordance with POPIA.
POPIA stipulates that the processing of personal information is permissible only under specific justifiable grounds, including:
The IR argued that the DBE failed to demonstrate any legitimate interests served by publishing the results in newspapers. They emphasized that if the other grounds for processing personal information do not apply, consent from the data subject becomes mandatory.