Issue of warrants
(1) A judge of the High Court, a regional magistrate or a magistrate, if satisfied by information on oath supplied by the Regulator that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that— (a) a responsible party is interfering with the protection of the personal information of a data subject; or (b) an offence under this Act has been or is being committed, and that evidence of the contravention or of the commission of the offence is to be found on any premises specified in the information, that are within the jurisdiction of that judge or magistrate, may, subject to subsection (2), grant a warrant to enter and search such premises.
(2) A warrant issued under subsection (1) authorises any of the Regulator's members or staff members, subject to section 84, at any time within seven days of the date of the warrant to enter the premises as identified in the warrant, to search them, to inspect, examine, operate and test any equipment found there which is used or intended to be used for the processing of personal information and to inspect and seize any record, other material or equipment found there which may be such evidence as is mentioned in that subsection.
What this means for your estate
- A judge, regional magistrate, or magistrate can issue a warrant to search your estate's premises if there are reasonable grounds to suspect interference or an offence under the Act (subsection (1)), this is a genuine court-level authorisation, not an internal Regulator decision.
- Subsection (2) gives the warrant a seven-day execution window and lets Regulator staff inspect, test, and seize equipment used for processing personal information, CCTV servers and access-control systems are squarely within scope.
PopiGuard's documentation is designed so that if a s.82 warrant is ever executed, your estate can demonstrate an active compliance program on the spot.