South Africa’s new National Policy on Data and the Cloud is a significant step towards digital transformation. It emphasises the need for infrastructure development, regulatory frameworks, and skills enhancement to support a burgeoning digital economy. The policy outlines strategies for accelerating broadband connectivity, promoting cloud-first approaches for government services, and ensuring data security. Moreover, it aims to create a digital trust environment essential for fostering innovation and economic growth.
South Africa's move towards open science In today’s world, science plays a role that is undeniable and essential. It serves...
Read MoreThe draft Code of Conduct for Research - room for improvement The burgeoning landscape of research, particularly in genomics, calls...
Read MoreThe EU's Single Resolution Board decision and the use of pseudonymous data in Kenya SRB v EDPSBackgroundOn 26 April 2023,...
Read MoreThe effect of the 90-day period for deciding on complaints submitted to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in...
Read MoreSouth Africans have their say about heritable human genome editing My research group conducted a public engagement study on heritable...
Read MoreWeighing in on a UK-SA data bridge If you think that with the advent of POPIA – by all accounts...
Read MoreProfessor Donrich Thaldar explains why newly generated genomic data do not belong to anyone.
Determining ownership can be complex. While some jurisdictions have specific legislation on genomic data ownership, in the absence of such laws, general property law rules apply. It may be surprising to learn that the data subject does not automatically become the owner, as property rights are separate from personality rights. It is argued that a newly generated genomic data instance should be viewed as res nullius (belonging to no one), which allows a research institution that generates a genomic data instance to acquire ownership in it through appropriation.
Further reading: The multidimensional legal nature of personal genomic sequence data: A South African perspective.
Our legal experts publish extensively on legal issues affecting health research. Read our latest articles.is