POPIA Compliance Guide for Medical Schemes

The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) came into full effect on 1 July 2021. For medical schemes, which handle some of the most sensitive personal data—health information—compliance is critical.

What POPIA Means for Medical Schemes

Medical schemes are considered "responsible parties" under POPIA. This means you're responsible for:

Lawful processing - Only collecting data for a specific, legitimate purpose
Minimality - Only collecting data that's actually needed
Use limitation - Only using data for its intended purpose
Data quality - Keeping data accurate and up-to-date
Security - Protecting data from unauthorized access

Special Category: Health Information

Health data is classified as "special personal information" under POPIA. This means even stricter requirements apply:

Explicit consent is required before processing
Additional security measures must be in place
Members have the right to access and correct their health records
Breaches must be reported to the Information Regulator

How MedAPI Helps You Stay Compliant

Data Residency

All data is stored in South African data centres. Your members' information never leaves the country.

Encryption

Data is encrypted at rest and in transit using industry-standard AES-256 encryption. Even we can't read your members' health information.

Access Controls

Role-based access control ensures only authorized personnel can access sensitive data. Full audit logs track every access.

Consent Management

The member app includes built-in consent management, making it easy to obtain and record member consent.

Data Portability

Members can request and receive their full data export, as required by POPIA.

Need Help?

POPIA compliance can be complex. If you have questions about how MedAPI handles your data, contact our compliance team.