Severely. POPIA is very strict about marketing to anyone under the age of 18. Anyone younger than this requires parental consent first. This makes it particularly difficult for tertiary institutions to market to grade 11s. Lawyers are asking the Regulator for an exemption for tertiary education, so they can market to school-leaving students. After all, access to education is a human right.
If you do market to minors, you’re going to have to do more. There are ways to get parental consent; it’s not impossible. The best way to go about the age limit is to not ask their age, but to mark on the form that they need to be over the age of 18 to subscribe.
At the very least, you must disclose the channels on which you’ll be communicating. Some professionals believe this means consent per channel. But some believe that disclosing which channels you’ll be using is sufficient.
Do the CPA and POPIA complement each other? How and where do they overlap or contradict?
POPIA applies to all forms of marketing when you use personal information, so both will often apply.
Where they aren’t perfectly aligned is in section 69, which relates to consent. This only applies to electronic communication, excluding telemarketing, unless the telemarketer is a robot or leaves voice messages. Telemarketing doesn’t need consent but must have the option to unsubscribe.
To find out more about the POPI Act: Click here.