In today’s digital era, data is considered the new gold. Data privacy is thus becoming increasingly important, also in real estate. Meanwhile, fast and efficient information exchange is just as crucial in real estate acquisition. But how can data privacy requirements be harmonised with an agile due diligence? And how can a redaction feature help?
The Data Privacy Challenge in Due Diligence
In real estate acquisition, the risk assessment is an extremely complex and crucial step, encompassing financial, legal, tax, technical, and environmental due diligence. During due diligence, documents are made available in a digital data room. These documents often contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including details about employees, customers, and suppliers.
Before personally identifiable data is handed over to a potential buyer, a data privacy agreement between the seller and the buyer must be established. In most cases, they share the responsibility for data privacy. This requires a written agreement that particularly addresses issues of transparency concerning the affected individuals (in accordance with Art. 26 Para. 1 GDPR). This agreement can be integrated into standard confidentiality agreements or the “Letter of Intent.” It is essential to note that technical service providers, such as data room operators, are classified as data processors in terms of data privacy.
Redaction: A Proven Method for Protecting Personal Data
Due diligence involves various data and information, some of which are relevant for due diligence and should be made available to the buyer, while other data, such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII), should be protected.
Document redaction is a common practice for obscuring specific information and has proven to be one of the most effective methods for preserving data confidentiality and integrity. As information becomes increasingly valuable, we at Drooms see the need to protect data and be GDPR-complaint, whilst enabling fast and efficient information sharing within our platform.
Redaction Does Not Equal Redaction
Due diligence occurs on multiple levels, which means that sensitive data might be relevant for one area but would need to be redacted in another context. With Drooms Redaction, we have developed an advanced solution based on our advanced AI technology. It allows for the protection of personal data in our virtual data rooms and enhances the efficiency of due diligence. Control, confidentiality, and user-friendliness are our top priorities.
With Drooms Redaction, it’s possible to automatically and rapidly identify and conceal terms using AI and optical character recognition (OCR), as well as grant access to selected individuals. Our AI can also automate the redaction of entire categories, such as legal entities, banks, contacts, signatures, and addresses. Alternatively, you can leave the redaction to our experts, simplifying and expediting the due diligence process while ensuring GDPR compliance.
Conclusion
Redaction is an indispensable practice for safeguarding sensitive documents and facilitating information exchange. Given the increasing importance of reliable, robust, and quickly accessible information, it is crucial to integrate this method into data privacy agreements and find the balance between transparency and confidentiality.
