Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002) Chapter I : Interpretation, Objects and Application 1. Definitions

 

In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise —

 

"addressee"

in respect of a data message, means a person who is intended by the originator to receive the data message, but not a person acting as an intermediary in respect of that data message;

 

"advanced electronic signature"

means an electronic signature which results from a process which has been accredited by the Authority as provided for in section 37; "authentication products or services" means products or services designed to identify the holder of an electronic signature to other persons;

 

"authentication service provider"

means a person whose authentication products or services have been accredited by the Accreditation Authority under section 37 or recognised under section 40;

 

"Authority"

means the .za Domain Name Authority;

 

"automated transaction"

means an electronic transaction conducted or performed, in whole or in part, by means of data messages in which the conduct or data messages of one or both parties are not reviewed by a natural person in the ordinary course of such natural person's business or employment;

 

"browser"

means a computer program which allows a person to read hyperlinked data messages;

 

"cache"

means high speed memory that stores data for relatively short periods of time, under computer control, in order to speed up data transmission or processing; "ccTLD"  means country code domain at the top level of the Internet's domain name system assigned according to the two-letter codes in the International Standard ISO 3166-1 (Codes for Representation of Names of Countries and their Subdivision);

 

"certification service provider"

means a person providing an authentication product or service in the form of a digital certificate attached to, incorporated in or logically associated with a data message;

 

"Commission"

means the National Consumer Commission as defined in section 1 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008;

[Definition inserted by section 121(1)), (Section B:1(b) of Schedule 1, of Notice No. 457, GG 32186, dated 29 April 2009]

 

"consumer"

means any natural person who enters or intends entering into an electronic transaction with a supplier as the end user of the goods or services offered by that supplier;

 

"Consumer Affairs Committee"

[Definition deleted by section 121(1)), (Section B:1(a) of Schedule 1), of Notice No. 457, GG 32186, dated 29 April 2009]

 

 

"critical data"

means data that is declared by the Minister in terms of section 53 to be of importance to the protection of the national security of the Republic or the economic and social well-being of its citizens;

 

"critical database"

means a collection of critical data in electronic form from where it may be accessed, reproduced or extracted;

 

"critical database administrator"

means the person responsible for the management and control of a critical database;

 

"cryptography product"

means any product that makes use of cryptographic techniques and is used by a sender or recipient of data messages for the purposes of ensuring-

 

"cryptography provider"

means any person who provides or who proposes to provide cryptography services or products in the Republic;

 

"cryptography service"

means any service which is provided to a sender or a recipient of a data message or to anyone storing a data message,and which is designed to facilitate the use of cryptographic techniques for the purpose of ensuring –

 

"data"

means electronic representations of information in any form;

 

"data controller"

means any person who electronically requests, collects, collates, processes or stores personal information from or in respect of a data subject:

 

"data message"

means data generated, sent, received or stored by electronic means and includes—

 

"data subject"

means any natural person from or in respect of whom personal information has been requested, collected, collated, processed or stored, after the commencement of this Act;

 

"Department"

means the Department of Communications; "Director-General" means the Director-General of the Department;

 

"domain name"

means an alphanumeric designation that is registered or assigned in respect of an electronic address or other resource on the Internet;

 

"domain name system"

means a system to translate domain names into IP addresses or other information;

 

"e-government services"

means any public service provided by electronic means by any public body in the Republic;

 

"electronic agent"

means a computer program or an electronic or other automated means used independently to initiate an action or respond to data messages or performances in whole or in part, in an automated transaction;

 

"electronic communication"

means a communication by means of data messages; "electronic signature" means data attached to, incorporated in, or logically associated with other data and which is intended by the user to serve as a signature; "e-mail" means electronic mail, a data message used or intended to be used as a mail message between the originator and addressee in an electronic communication;

 

"home page"

means the primary entry point web page of a web site;

 

"hyperlink"

means a reference or link from some point in one data message directing a browser or other technology or functionality to another data message or point therein or to another place in the same data message;

 

"ICANN"

means the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a California non-profit public benefit corporation established in terms of the laws of the state of California in the United States of America;

 

"information system"

means a system for generating, sending, receiving, storing, displaying or otherwise processing data messages and includes the Internet;

 

"information system services"

includes the provision of connections, the operation of facilities for information systems, the provision of access to information systems, the transmission or routing of data messages between or among points specified by a user and the processing and storage of data, at the individual request of the recipient of the service;

 

"intermediary"

means a person who, on behalf of another person, whether as agent or not, sends, receives or stores a particular data message or provides other services with respect to that data message;

 

"Internet"

means the interconnected system of networks that connects computers around the world using the TCP/IP and includes future versions thereof;

 

"IP address"

means the number identifying the point of connection of a computer or other device to the Internet;

 

"Minister"

means the Minister of Communications;

 

"originator"

means a person by whom, or on whose behalf, a data message purports to have been sent or generated prior to storage, if any, but does not include a person acting as an intermediary with respect to that data message;

 

"person"

includes a public body;

 

"personal information"

means information relating to an identifiable natural person, including, but not limited to—

but excludes information about an individual who has been dead for more than 20 years;

[Definition inserted by section 110 of Act No. 4 of 2013 (Notice No. 467), GG 37067, dated 26 November 2013]

 

"prescribe"

means prescribe by regulation under this Act;

 

"private body"

means-

 

"public body"

means—

 

"registrant"

means an applicant for or holder of a domain name;

 

"registrar"

means an entity which is licensed by the Authority to update a repository;

 

"registry"

means an entity licensed by the Authority to manage and administer a specific subdomain;

 

"repository"

means the primary register of the information maintained by a registry;

 

"second level domain"

means the subdomain immediately following the ccTLD; 5

 

"SMMEs"

means Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises contemplated in the Schedules to the Small Business Development Act, 1996 (Act No. 102 of 1996);

 

"subdomain"

means any subdivision of the .za domain name space which begins at the second level domain; "TCP/IP" means the Transmission Control Protocol Internet Protocol used by an information system to connect to the Internet;

 

"TI-D"

means a top level domain of the domain name system;

 

"third party",

in relation to a service provider, means a subscriber to the service provider's services or any other user of the service provider's services or a user of information systems;

 

"transaction"

means a transaction of either a commercial or non-commercial nature, and includes the provision of information and e-government services;

 

"universal access"

means access by all citizens of the Republic to Internet connectivity and electronic transactions;

 

"WAP"

means Wireless Application Protocol, an open international standard 20 developed by the Wireless Application Protocol Forum Limited, a company incorporated in terms of the laws of the United Kingdom, for applications that use wireless communication and includes Internet access from a mobile phone;

 

"web page"

means a data message on the World Wide Web;

 

"web site"

means any location on the Internet containing a home page or web page;

 

"World Wide Web"

means an information browsing framework that allows a user to locate and access information stored on a remote computer and to follow references from one computer to related information on another computer; and

 

".za domain name space"

means the.za ccTLD assigned to the Republic according to the two-letter codes in the International Standard ISO 3166-I.