The evolution of the privacy field has seen a swift reaction from software companies, all eager to find new ways and methods of lessening the burden of compliance and privacy regulation for privacy professionals. Each year, HPE and the IAPP recognizes an organization that provides a privacy technology product or service to help safeguard the privacy of consumers, suppliers and/or employee data.
This year’s 2017 HPE-IAPP Innovation Award for Privacy Technology goes to RADAR, Inc. for its patented SaaS-based incident response management software.
RADAR’s technology guides clients through a methodical process designed to objectively reduce risk and streamline compliance surrounding data breach regulation, effectively managing the entire incident response lifecycle. Targeting the often onerous and subjective process of providing sufficient proof following an incident involving personally identifiable information or protected health information, the software conducts a multi-factor, multi-jurisdictional risk assessment and provides technology-based guidance based on current data breach regulations to determine whether or not notification is required to individuals, regulatory agencies, or business clients.
RADAR CEO Mahmood Sher-Jan explained, “clients can be confident that we are not only scouring the environment looking for any impending regulation, but we are analyzing the changes and incorporating them in our software to deliver efficient support – taking a tremendous burden off their hands and ensuring that they remain compliant at all times.”
He said the scale of operation needed to conduct and maintain an agile framework for risk-assessments is often seen as cost prohibitive for a client, but the cloud-based technology allows RADAR to analyze data breach regulations, reach consensus if needed among clients and law partners, and then codify any update in its software, giving the client confidence that the framework on hand is always up to date with the latest regulations.
The company has evolved significantly since it last won the award in 2014. “We are now entirely independent and in control of our own destiny and focus,” he explained, noting the decision to spin off from its former parent company allowed the company to focus solely on product development and commit the company entirely to the privacy space. Sher-Jan said it is wonderful to have their approach recognized for its part in solving what he sees as a complex and ever-changing problem of delivering efficient and elegant privacy solutions for organizations.
Sher-Jan said he wouldn’t describe RADAR’s path as traditional.
He can remember his first “aha” moment when he realized there was a software-based solution to combat the subjectivity of risk assessments. Since that realization, he describes a very collaborative process that has taken place over a number of years, allowing RADAR to fine tune its software to deliver the most efficient technology-based guidance.
“The kind of problems we solve cannot be done in a vacuum,” he said, crediting the software's development to successful engagements across the privacy field. “We have a commitment to the IAPP's membership. We are designed around helping the privacy pro community become more effective at doing their job, reducing risk for their clients, and bringing some sanity to their day-to-day job,” he said.
“It has been a long-drawn process and hard-earned success that we are certainly proud of,” Sher-Jan reflected. “Sometimes I say that we have just scratched the surface. There is so much more that we will do and must do.”