Privacy policies and practices: an investigation of secondary use of information within South African retail banking institutions
Date
1996
Authors
Daya, Jithendra Chotoo
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Abstract
This paper addresses concerns surrounding information privacy and the secondary use of
information in South African corporations. This study also attempts to assess the level of
concern that management and information technology practitioners if! South African retail
banks have about privacy issues.
The research suggests that privacy is a huge concern internationally and may affect South
African corporations if they do not follow certain policies and practices. Eleven in-person
structured interviews were conducted at four banks.
The research proposes a set of guidelines by which South African management and IT
practitioners, who are involved with the identification and solution of some of the problems
that may be presented by possible privacy legislation, will be able to assess their policies and
practices against international practices and policies. The results inform IS managers and
executives about appropriate business policies they can implement voluntarily to address
public concerns about specific information practices that may be considered a threat to
privacy.
The findings suggest that the executives are deliberately avoiding confronting the issue of
information privacy for as long as possible. The executives are adopting a wait-and-see
attitude and will react 011 whatever legislation requires them to do. At the time of the
report senior executives at banks were not accepting responsibility for information privacy
policies and practices and were leaving this responsibility; to the middle level managers who implement their own practices based on their own needs.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in the partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce. Johannesburg 1996.
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Citation
Daya, Jithendra Chotoo (1996) Privacy policies and practices: an investigation of secondary use of information within South African retail banking institutions, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/21614>