We talked to Dr. Uzy Hadad, founder of Privya, an innovative AI-based solution ensuring that data protection and compliance are handled as part of the development life cycle.
Dr. Uzy Hadad has worked in software development, big data science, engineering and privacy, and global technology transformation for nearly twenty years. As a CTO at a large data brokerage firm, he developed a deep understanding of the vast amounts of data continually being collected, stored and monetized — and the inherent risks related to breaches and misuse of personal data.
He shared a brief story and overview of Privya, before going into the most recent cybersecurity trends and sharing his tips to improve your anonymity online.
What’s The Story Behind Privya? How Did The Idea Develop Over The Years And How Does Your Mission Differ From Others In The Industry?
Privya was founded in 2021 by a team of experienced technology and business executives who personally experienced the workload and challenges created by data protection issues in their respective companies, and knew there must be a better way. Coming from SaaS companies that needed to comply with GDPR, the chasm between the needs of the CISO, the DPO and the engineering team was severe, and the manual work needed to bridge that gap to comply with data protection regulations was daunting. Even the language used by the engineers and compliance officials was completely different. Logic indicated a technology solution to this problem must exist, so they went looking. What they found were several advanced technologies that were all complicated to implement, and designed for post-production use. None of the solutions on the market were part of the development life cycle, to build in privacy from day one. So the team started talking with design partners, mapping out the solution, and Privya was born.
What Kind Of Cybersecurity Services And Products Do You Offer?
Privya’s engine discovers and identifies Personal Data in your code, maps the data flow and business logic. Privya’s engine translates the expertise of top data protection experts, turning the requirements of GDPR, CPRA and compliance best practices into a knowledge database.
Privya’s user-focused applications provide risk scoring, and detection of potential privacy compliance violations and raise alerts about data vulnerabilities using its knowledge base and its rule-based and machine learning engines.
What are the benefits of Automated routine privacy compliance assessments?
The benefits are numerous, including increased efficiency, cost savings, and risk reduction:
1. Improved Efficiency: Automated privacy assessment tools can save organizations time and money by automating processes that would otherwise require manual labor. This leaves more time and resources available for other important activities.
2. Cost Savings: Automated compliance assessments can help to significantly reduce the costs associated with manual compliance assessments. By automating the process, businesses can save on human resources and other costs associated with manual assessments.
3. Enhanced Security: Automated assessments can detect potential privacy and security risks before they become a problem, enabling organizations to take proactive measures to protect their data and systems.
4. Increased Visibility: Automated privacy assessments provide organizations with a detailed view of their current privacy compliance status, enabling them to take corrective action if necessary. This allows businesses to quickly identify potential problems and take corrective action before they become major issues.
5. Improved Regulatory Compliance: By keeping track of changing regulations, automated assessments help organizations remain up-to-date with the latest privacy requirements. This helps to ensure that their operations remain compliant with applicable laws and regulations and reduces the risk of costly fines and other penalties due to non-compliance.
6. Improved Customer Experience: Automated assessments help businesses to ensure that their customers’ data is secure and protected. This, in turn, helps to build consumer trust and confidence in the business, which can lead to improved customer experiences and loyalty.
Apart From Your Privacy Management Solution, What Are The Most Effective Tools And Ways To Ensure Data Privacy?
It is critical that the employees and in particular the engineering teams have a high level of privacy awareness. Ensuring employees are trained to be aware of data privacy best practices and have the necessary knowledge and skills to protect sensitive data is crucial.
Data minimization is also helpful for organizations to be aware that they should only collect and retain the minimum amount of data necessary for their business purposes.
Many Security Experts Argue Anonymity Is Impossible. Where Do You Stand On This Issue?
I believe that it is possible to achieve a certain level of anonymity, but it is not absolute. Even if one removes all the identifiable information from the data set, there is still a risk that it is possible to de-anonymize it. The risk depends on the data that you anonymized.
A more sophisticated solution is to use a differential privacy technique, but this limits the type of questions you can ask about the data.
Therefore, it is important to take necessary measures to ensure a certain level of privacy and anonymity, but it is not possible to guarantee absolute anonymity.
What Are The Most Common Mistakes That Users Make In Terms Of Online Security And Privacy?
- Using the same password for several websites
- Not enabling Two-Factor Authentication
- Clicking on unknown and short links
- Downloading unknown files
- Sharing personal information with unknown websites
Is There Any Recent Cyber-Attack That Concerned You More Than Others?
The Optus data breach really struck me personally because it was the type of breach that we are constantly working to prevent. Data breaches are a real concern more than ever. Over the last year, there have been numerous data breaches of personal and sensitive information, and it’s likely that this number will only continue to grow in 2023.