LCR4805 ASSIGNMENT 1 SEMESTER 2 2025 – FULLY ANSWERED (DUE 12 AUGUST 2025)

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LCR4805 Assignment 1 Semester 2 Memo | Due 12 August 2025. All questions fully answered. Question 1
John and Mary are undergoing a divorce that John initiated due to his newfound
romantic interest, which has led him to no longer love Mary. John is a businessman
who operates an investment company. Meanwhile, Mary is still in love with John and
feels anger towards him for his departure. In a fit of spite, Mary posts on John’s
Facebook wall, accusing him of being a thief and a fraudster, warning others not to
trust him with their finances. This Facebook post receives numerous negative
comments, consequently harming John’s business financially.
a) With reference to applicable law, critically discuss the liability of Mary to a
claim of defamation. (10)
b) If Mary is liable to a claim of defamation, discuss if there are any defences
available on which Mary may rely on. (5)
Question 2
Connect (Pty) Ltd is a South African company that developed an On-line Application
(hereinafter, the App) called JustTap, which is available for download on mobile
devices in South Africa. The App enables users to search for businesses providing
certain services in the users’ area. For example, a user may search for a fast food
restaurant in his or her area by using the App, on their devices. In order to locate the
user and determine which restaurants are near the user, the App must enable the
geolocation function of the mobile device. The user must first give permission before
the App can activate the geolocation on the device. After the App was in use for a
while, the developer updated the App. The latest version of the App automatically
enabled the geolocation function without asking the permission of the user. The App
developer started to use the geolocation information of the user to send
advertisements to the user about other available services near the user. Answer the
following questions with reference to this set of facts:
(a) Can the use of geolocation information as described above be
considered to be “processing of personal information” in terms of the Protection of
Personal Information Act (POPI Act) 4 of 2013? Discuss by referring to the Act’s
definitions of “processing” and “personal information”. (10)
(b) Briefly explain whether there are any grounds upon which Connect (Pty) Ltd
may rely to justify the automatic activation of the geolocation function after the App
had been updated. (5)