Staunton, CiaraAdams, RachelBotes, M.Dove, Edward S.Horn, LynLabuschaigne, MelodieLoots, GlaudinaMahomed, SafiaOlckers, AntonelPepper, Michael SeanPope, AnneRamsay, MicheleLoideain, Nora NiDe Vries, Jantina2021-09-082021-09-082020-03Staunton, C., Adams, R., Botes, M. et al. 2020, 'Privacy rights of human research participants in South Africa must be taken seriously', South African Medical Journal, vol. 110, no. 3, pp. 175-176.0256-9574 (print)2078-5135 (online)10.7196/SAMJ.2020.v110i3.14450http://hdl.handle.net/2263/81713The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) was enacted by the South African (SA) parliament in 2013 after a long process of public consultation. To allow all sectors of SA society sufficient time to prepare to be compliant with POPIA, the SA government deferred the entering into force of the substantive provisions of POPIA for several years. Throughout this hiatus period, POPIA was widely publicised in the SA media, as is evident from any internet search.en© 2020 Health & Medical Publishing Group. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Works License (CC BY-NC 3.0).ParliamentPublic consultationSouth Africa (SA)Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA)Privacy rightsHuman research participantsArticle