Amy Pierechod and Lauren Wills-Dixon provide guidance on data compliance for start-ups in Sifted report

Head of start-ups and emerging companies, Amy Pierechod, and Lauren Wills-Dixon, head of privacy and data protection, have contributed to a guidance report by leading business publication supporting early ventures Sifted discussing how start-ups can get the most out of data while being compliant.

The report serves as a guide providing actional insights on how data can be a start-up’s biggest asset, covering aspects including collection, analytics and how to use it effectively. For all start-ups using data, these all are key areas requiring robust practices and compliance.

Start-ups can quickly find themselves amassing significant amounts of data, including personal data, which is the subject of increasing stringent regulatory oversight if founders fall foul of the rules.

Any new venture collecting data must remember the responsibilities they have to safeguard information, which, Amy says, is sometimes overlooked by founding teams.

“They want to show fast growth and have probably signed up a lot of customers, maybe on a free basis,” commented Amy.

Complying with regulations, such as GDPR, is critical and founders should get structures in place early to handle effective compliance.

“One of the requirements under GDPR is that businesses have a privacy by design and by default approach,” explained Lauren.

A core part of the use of data is with AI amongst start-ups. In this area it is essential to maintain transparency and human oversight.

This represents an area where legislation is playing catch-up. Lauren discussed: “We’re yet to see a lot of regulatory guidance on it, but it’s coming. You could have a model ingesting huge amounts of personal data, but you need to be able to tell an individual where their data has gone.

“If you’re an organisation processing personal data using AI, you would still need to meet the transparency principles under the GDPR.”

You can read Amy’s and Lauren’s comments within the full report, ‘How to get value out of data’ available to download from the Sifted website here.

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