– US attention follows EU’s GDPR, China regulations and legislative activity in India, Brazil and Bahrain

– International demand for privacy expertise is massive opportunity for UK

Thursday 27th September 2018

The Senate hearing attended by some of the largest US-based technology companies (including AT&T, Apple, Amazon, Google and Twitter) has shown a move towards national regulations to protect individual privacy in the US.

Jason du Preez, CEO of Privitar, the privacy engineering software company, commented:

“We have seen a change of heart in the US on protecting individual privacy, which aligns with regulatory action around the world. China has implemented stringent privacy regulations on private sector companies and we have seen further privacy legislative activity in India, Brazil and Bahrain. The EU has, of course, led the way with the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations and California was quick to follow with the California Consumer Protection Act.”

Commenting on the driving force behind the international wave of privacy regulation, du Preez added:

“Almost every aspect of our lives is now studied by data analysts at the large tech companies: our social behaviour, our health and our consumption patterns. The shift to data-led enterprise and government is bringing life-changing benefits: from the day to day conveniences of online retail to bringing communities together to helping us live longer. However, the quid pro quo has been an exchange of personal information hitherto unseen.

“The Cambridge Analytica scandal gave governments, business and consumers around the world a loud wake-up call as to the dangers of such unchecked power.”

du Preez went on to highlight the global demand for the UK’s privacy expertise:

“The international rush to regulate privacy is a massive opportunity for the UK. Specialist privacy companies such as ours are commercialising over a decade of academic study. Protecting individual identities is a complex science. There is no single technique that will simply anonymise data suitable for any purpose. With data and privacy breaches regularly splashed across the news, specialist privacy skills are now in global demand.

“A data-led future poses exciting, life-changing possibilities. It is vital that these new discoveries put respect for individuals first.”

This week, Privitar, in partnership with Communitech, a Canadian organisation which supports technology companies, from start-up to enterprise, welcomed a delegation of high-profile companies from Canada, from a range of industries including banking and media, to explore the protections and possibilities of the latest in privacy engineering.

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:

Sorrelle Harper, Privitar
T: +44 7389 194551
E: sorrelle.harper@privitar.com

Kevin Maxwell, Maxwell Communications
T: +44 7985 351797
E: kevin@maxwellcomms.com

About Privitar
Privitar provides data-privacy software to companies and public sector organisations around the world to protect sensitive data and enable ethical data analysis. Privitar’s software accelerates and automates the provision of privacy-preserving data, helping customers extract more business value from their data, generate data-driven insights, and drive innovation.

Privitar was established in 2014 with headquarters in London and offices in New York and Paris. The company raised $16m in a Series A funding round in July 2017, with support from existing investors IQ Capital, 24Haymarket and Illuminate Financial and new funding from Partech Ventures, CME Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.

Privitar hosts an annual community event – In:Confidence – with luminary privacy experts and commentators and contributes regularly to the public discourse on privacy matters.