EY launches Data Privacy Tech Startup Challenge

18 September 2014 Consultancy.uk

Accounting and consulting EY has, together with Pivotal Innovations and Level39, set up the ‘Data Privacy Tech Startup Challenge’, a challenge which seeks six technology concepts that will help companies tackle the data privacy issues arising from the upcoming the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the ‘Right to be Forgotten’. The six startups will follow an intense six-week innovation programme after which a winner will be selected that will receive additional support from EY for its business. 

Data Privacy is an increasingly important issue, and the protection of this data is no longer enough. According to Big Four consulting firm EY, data must be actively managed, which is also recognised by the EU. From late 2014, the EU will unify all data protection with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), a regulation that will come fully into effect in early 2017. This new regulation will have a large impact on any company that holds personal data*, as consumers will under the regulation have the right to ask companies what data is available, and as a result businesses will need to have technology in place to comply with these changes. The impact of the EU GDPR is expected to create several challenges for companies in the areas of compliance, reputation management, consumer trust and operational efficiency.

Personal Data Privacy

According to EY, data privacy challenges can be best addressed by working together with innovative technology startups, which in its view constitute “part of a revolution of entrepreneurial problem-solving, and are not afraid to disrupt business models and change the already known ways.”

Data Privacy Tech Startup Challenge

To find innovative startups to tackle tomorrow’s problems, EY has set up a challenge to – together with Pivotal Innovations, Level39, and of a number of their large technology, media and telecommunications clients – find six suitable and promising technology startups. The intensive 6-week innovation programme, that starts on November 3rd, will focus on accelerating technological solutions to the key business impacts of the EU GDPR, with an emphasis on challenges posed by the ‘Right to be Forgotten’**. “The ‘Right to be Forgotten’ throws up new challenges in areas such as data capture, privacy, and in the rapid response to removal requests. Dealing with these challenges can be complex and expensive, due to the financial and reputational risk to businesses, and the impact of non-compliance,” says Eric Van der Kleij, Head of Level39, Canary Wharf Group and Director of Pivotal Innovations.

The six startups that will be selected will receive mentorship and training, access to EY clients and funding, and on-going support. During the challenge, the six startups will showcase their technologies to influential stakeholders. The winner of the challenge will receive a secondment of an experienced EY business professional for 6 weeks, will be present at EY events in 2015, and will be fast-tracked into the Cebit Code_N competition.

Commenting on the challenge, Robert Walker, EY Advisory Sector Lead for Technology, Media & Telecommunication, says: “We’re very much looking forward to helping innovative tech startups tackle this topic. This programme will give startups much needed access to big business and help our clients respond to the challenges posed. Innovation is the key to business success so it’s a win-win solution which will see startups benefitting from business leaders and vice versa.”

* Personal data could include items such as name, email address, payment details, social networking posts, medical information, or IP address.

** This gives consumers ‘the right - under certain conditions - to ask search engines to remove links with personal information of them. This applies where the information is inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive for the purposes of the data processing’.

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