Litigation by its very nature involves the disclosure of information. Mechanisms built into the legal process, such as, among others, discovery, allow for disclosure of information. Disclosure of information does not necessarily result in a “blanket release” and consideration needs to be given to factors such as relevance and privilege. Suffice to say that the overarching purpose of disclosure is to facilitate proceedings transparently in the interests of both the parties, the court and ultimately, justice. With the advent of POPIA, data subjects are likely to raise their ‘POPIA rights’ during litigation, as a legal defence to protect their personal information from being disclosed.
