Compliance and Regulation

You’re sitting on the Next Big Thing. It’s good – Uber for dogs, AirBnB for husbands, Slack for God or PayPal for hugs. You’ve got an idea up your sleeve, you’re developing a product for manufacture or you’re seeking investment opportunities on a project. But, you’ve got one big question that keeps you up and night and won’t go away – Is It Legal?

Keeping your operation above board betters efficiency, improves reputational reliability, keeps unpredictable regulators at bay and increases investment potential. With our bridging knowledge of both the technology and the law, Legalese sits in a unique position to assist you in understanding the regulatory landscape of your new or existing industry, navigating data protection provisions or deciphering the laws surrounding online transactions and interactions.

Regulation Landscapes: Before, During and After Your Product Launch

If you’re an international company looking to start operations in South Africa, or a local enterprise seeking to enter a new field or ensure you’re compliant with your industry’s current red tape, your operations need to be lawful. Businesses often fail to appreciate how many laws have an effect on their operations, and subsequently, they fail to be compliant until it’s too late. The growing fields of ICT, e-commerce and other web-based services impose intimidating and difficult-to-navigate statutory duties. The Consumer Protection Act; Know Your Customer rules, and the Protection of Personal Information Act, amongst others, create stringent hurdles to jump through before, during and after a customer experience or transaction. Legalese can partner with you to ensure your business is compliant with your industry’s applicable legislation, rules and regulations, tailoring any of our products to assist your particular needs at any stage of your operation, no matter your size and for a wide range of sectors.

CONSUMER-FACING COMPLIANCE

– Creation or review of your business’ terms of engagement
-Guidance regarding online transactions and e-commerce platforms affecting consumer rights and duties
– Assistance in mapping duties and obligations of service providers (e.g. importers, buyers, sellers, importers, and manufacturers)
– Product recall navigation
– Compliance advice regarding the Consumer Protection Act and other laws
SECTOR-SPECIFIC REGULATIONS

– Assistance in understanding and achieving the necessary registrations, permits and licenses applicable to your business’ sector (e.g. drones, wearable tech, luxury clothing)
ACTION-SPECIFIC REGULATIONS

– Assistance in understanding and achieving the potential registrations, permits or licenses applicable to your business’ actions (e.g. importing technology, launching a new product, trading in controlled goods)
PRE-LAUNCH COMPLIANCE ADVICE

– “Taster advice” available for a wide range of industries, products and services
– Answers to either wide-ranging or specific questions
– Comprehensive overview and compliance survey with assistance throughout procedure
GOVERNMENT REGULATORS

– Engagement and facilitation with regulators such as CAA, ICASA, CIPC and SABS
– Help in understanding which regulators to engage with and how
DISTRIBUTION SERVICES

– Advice on cross-border distribution (e.g. labels, pricing, standards, specifications, duties)
– Ensure that your products or services are legally compliant when entering and exiting South Africa

Data, POPI, Privacy and Policies

Data is becoming increasingly important in every sphere of modern life; particularly in the running of businesses of any size, shape and form. However, its far-reaching influence and wide-spread importance means that in turn, it is fast becoming regulated.

With the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) regulating data use, and protection expected to come into full effect in the coming future, the Act’s compliance imperatives are due to kick in, affecting your business’ operations in various ways. Whether you want to trade in data, record patient details, transact with a customer online or implement a fair work-surveillance program, your operation has a vested interest in data and its potential. You need to know that your endeavour is lawful, and what obligations and duties are triggered by various compliance regimes.

With our understanding of cutting-edge technologies and grasp of the most recent local and international law, Legalese can assist you in ensuring that your interactions with data and personal information are efficient, compliant and safe.

POPI-COMPLIANCE

– POPI requires a host of compliance measures from anyone engaging with
personal information
– Packages available for step-by-step, comprehensive preparation for
implementation of the impending legislation
– Available for companies and processors
WORKPLACE DATA

– Advice on data use, privacy and surveillance within the workplace
– Creation of internal and customer-facing policies
– Assistance in understanding and fulfilling duties, roles and entitlements
regarding company and customer data
DATA TRANSFER AND TRADE

-Review of your company’s harvesting, trade or transfer in data’s legality
– Available for South African and EU/US law
WEBSITE AND E-COMMERCE POLICIES

– Creation of the vital policies for your website or application, including: T&C’s
of Use, T&Cs of Engagement, Privacy Policy, IP Policy and Disclaimer of Use
– Assistance in understanding of legislated duties and obligations

Websites and Apps: Pre- & Post-Construction

Launching a website, application or e-commerce platform in South Africa comes with a host of different laws and regulations. Clear policies and terms and conditions are not just utilised by these platforms for their own protection – a range of statutory obligations exist pertaining to online services for the protection of customers and the benefit of regulatory bodies and industry watchdogs. Legalities aside, online compliance for your website or App reassures users and offers certainty and protection in the midst of the internet jungle.

Legalese has built a set of services that can be tailor-made to your online endeavours. We aim to partner with you from the get-go, providing information and implementation guidance whatever your stage of development in order to avoid difficulties, liability and costs later on. After all, prevention is far better (and cheaper) than a cure!

PRE-LAUNCH WEBSITE AND APPLICATIONS REGULATIONS

– Advice regarding compliance questions on any online-related action,
industry or sector which your website or app operates in (e.g. encryption, age
classification, consumer rights)
PRE-LAUNCH CHECKLISTS

– Creation of bespoke operation checklists for your online operations
– Aimed at ensuring you’re doing it right from the get-go
THE BIG FIVE POLICIES

– Creation of website or application’s vital policies
– Review of existing policies
– Policies include: Terms of Use, Terms of Service, Intellectual Property, Disclaimer and Privacy Policies
GOVERNMENT REGULATORS

– Definition of applicable regulatory authorities’ functions
– Explanation of engagement tools
SPECIFIC-FOCUS SERVICES

– Advice on particular function or feature of website or app (e.g. cryptography,
payment systems, agency, intermediary, data-use, Consumer Protection Act
applicability)