Magister Legum - LLM / The development of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has radically changed the landscape of the conventional family. It has permitted a platform for the creation of families and family structures with tremendous diversity in their demographic characteristics. It has also changed the way in which individuals become parents. The advances in medical and scientific fertility treatments have meant that for many the dream of having a child of their own has now become a real possibility. Public perception and attitudes towards infertility treatments and more latterly surrogacy has changed tremendously and becoming increasingly acceptable. While there are those who have celebrated the advancement in reproductive technologies and potential freedoms that this may contain, ART has opened the proverbial Pandora's Box amongst scholars and the public policy makers, principally in the area of rights.

This thesis aims to address a vital gap that has emerged in the digital identity regulatory discourse: how can the legal regulation of digital identity mirror the global nature of digital identity and be compatible with national local difference? Digital identity, or the digital representation of an individual, is a complex concept, which manifests in myriad forms (e.g. authenticators, claims, data or information, identifiers, presence, relationship representations and reputation) and natures. As such, it engages a gamut of legal domains ranging from criminal law, constitutional law, human rights law, law of identity schemes, contract law, intellectual property law, tort law and data protection law. Digital identity is global and local in its nature, influence and effects. Yet, the digital identity regulatory discourse has primarily developed in and focussed on the digitally advanced West, leaving out countries like India which are developing strong digital presences, with their own digital identity perceptions and needs. This situation is adverse to the sustained future of digital identity. Thus, the contribution of this thesis lies in filling this gap and preparing the ground for a dialogue between different countries with different national agendas through building international and local awareness of how similarities and differences operate in respect of digital identity, its regulation and providing a modest solution to help preserve the global and local dimensions of digital identity and its regulation. To this end, the thesis carried out comparative legal research on the legal regulation of digital identity using the UK and India as base jurisdictions. The original hypothesis was that that immense differences in the legal regulation of digital identity between the comparator countries would emerge. Yet, though differences were evident, considerable degrees of similarity also emerged, not just on the superficial level of mere identity of rules, but also in legal practice, in large part attributable to India’s penchant for legal transplants. While the transplantation of Western law did not result in a full-scale rejection of the transplanted laws in relation to digital identity in India, there are indications of anomalies caused by the imposition of Western cultural norms through law on an Indian society ill prepared for it. Thus there has resulted a tension between the local and the global, the indigenous and the externally imposed. The challenge is thus to resolve this, taking into account, on the one hand the need to maintain the global nature and relevance of digital identity and the other, the need to accommodate and be responsive to local differences. The thesis proposes a tentative solution called the tri-elemental framework (TeF) which draws from the Indian philosophical and legal concept of dharma (and its elements of Sad Achara, Vyavahara and Prayaschitta) and learns from the most universally relevant digital identity proposal, De Hert’s right to identity. The solution provides one way in which the law regulating digital identity, whatever its nature, can be made sense of and acquire cultural meaning appropriate to local contexts.

In present-day society more and more personal information is being collected. The nature of the collection has also changed: more sensitive and potentially prejudicial information is collected. The advent of computers and the development of new telecommunications technology, linking computers in networks (principally the Internet) and enabling the transfer of information between computer systems, have made information increasingly important, and boosted the collection and use of personal information. The risks inherent in the processing of personal information are that the data may be inaccurate, incomplete or irrelevant, accessed or disclosed without authorisation, used for a purpose other than that for which they were collected, or destroyed. The processing of personal information poses a threat to a person's right to privacy. The right to identity is also infringed when incorrect or misleading information relating to a person is processed. In response to the problem of the invasion of the right to privacy by the processing of personal information, many countries have adopted "data protection" laws. Since the common law in South Africa does not provide adequate protection for personal data, data protection legislation is also required. This study is undertaken from a private law perspective. However, since privacy is also protected as a fundamental right, the influence of constitutional law on data protection is also considered. After analysing different foreign data protection laws and legal instruments, a set of core data protection principles is identified. In addition, certain general legal principles that should form the basis of any statutory data protection legislation in South Africa are proposed. Following an analysis of the theoretical basis for data protection in South African private law, the current position as regards data protection in South-Africa is analysed and measured against the principles identified. The conclusion arrived at is that the current South African acts can all be considered to be steps in the right direction, but not complete solutions. Further legislation incorporating internationally accepted data protection principles is therefore necessary. The elements that should be incorporated in a data protection regime are discussed. / Jurisprudence / LL. D. (Jurisprudence)

This study focuses on the use of Social Network Sites (SNSs) and certain personality rights (specifically the right to privacy and the right to identity) that may be infringed by this use. The study also discusses data protection law as the protection of the rights to privacy and identity are interlinked with data protection in that data protection assumes importance when there is processing of personal information on SNSs. The study seeks to determine whether South African law provides adequate protection for the interests that form the object of these personality rights, and highlights certain shortcomings, particularly in the context of SNSs. It also suggests solutions where there are shortcomings by learning from other jurisdictions. Related issues investigated are: who should be held responsible for the user-generated content uploaded on SNSs; the role of the Internet Service Provider (ISP); and how to deal with anonymous defendants. / Private Law / LL. M.

In present-day society more and more personal information is being collected. The nature of the collection has also changed: more sensitive and potentially prejudicial information is collected. The advent of computers and the development of new telecommunications technology, linking computers in networks (principally the Internet) and enabling the transfer of information between computer systems, have made information increasingly important, and boosted the collection and use of personal information. The risks inherent in the processing of personal information are that the data may be inaccurate, incomplete or irrelevant, accessed or disclosed without authorisation, used for a purpose other than that for which they were collected, or destroyed. The processing of personal information poses a threat to a person's right to privacy. The right to identity is also infringed when incorrect or misleading information relating to a person is processed. In response to the problem of the invasion of the right to privacy by the processing of personal information, many countries have adopted "data protection" laws. Since the common law in South Africa does not provide adequate protection for personal data, data protection legislation is also required. This study is undertaken from a private law perspective. However, since privacy is also protected as a fundamental right, the influence of constitutional law on data protection is also considered. After analysing different foreign data protection laws and legal instruments, a set of core data protection principles is identified. In addition, certain general legal principles that should form the basis of any statutory data protection legislation in South Africa are proposed. Following an analysis of the theoretical basis for data protection in South African private law, the current position as regards data protection in South-Africa is analysed and measured against the principles identified. The conclusion arrived at is that the current South African acts can all be considered to be steps in the right direction, but not complete solutions. Further legislation incorporating internationally accepted data protection principles is therefore necessary. The elements that should be incorporated in a data protection regime are discussed. / Jurisprudence / LL. D. (Jurisprudence)