Ardent Privacy, a Maryland-based data privacy company, announced today that it received a $200,000 investment from TEDCO's latest $800,000 funding round. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology companies in Maryland.

"We are excited to partner with TEDCO to pursue our mission to help companies in their data privacy journey. Enterprises are losing data in breaches not only because they are under attack, but also due to a lack of data hygiene and the absence of a data-centric security approach. Enterprises need a "Marie Kondo" tidying up approach for organizational data as they are challenged with data deluge and privacy compliance requirements at the same time. Our innovative data minimization technology will help companies reduce privacy risk and simplify compliance with CCPA and upcoming privacy regulations," said Sameer Ahirrao, CEO of Ardent Privacy.

"We believe these companies are in a critical area of known need, setting them on a path to build strong businesses here in Maryland," stated Frank Glover, lead director, TEDCO Seed Fund, and director, Maryland Venture Fund.

Companies have growing challenges with privacy with increased scrutiny of personal data by regulators, heightened consumer expectations, and the changing global environment. On July 16, CJEU (European Union's top court) struck down the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement. It found the Privacy Shield invalid due to inadequate privacy, surveillance, and data protection rights for the transfer of personal data between the EU and the US. The California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) was enacted on January 1, 2020, and enforcement began on July 1. Companies holding Californian's data are accountable for consumer data they own, and negligence can result in huge fines. Fourteen more states are in the process of passing similar laws. Virginia recently (July 1, 2020) enacted their Insurance Data Security Act enforcing security compliance for insurers and producers in Commonwealth.

Ardent Privacy Solution

Ardent Privacy's AI-driven solution helps companies reduce their unwanted or excess data footprint to become compliant and resilient in case of a breach. It provides deep discovery capabilities essential to meet privacy requirements for compliance, such as data subject access requests (DSAR). Organizations collect and retain vast amounts of personal data which represents a substantial liability for privacy compliance. For example, CCPA holds companies accountable for consumer data they own, and negligence can result in huge fines. By utilizing the Ardent Privacy solution, companies can reduce risk and liability by limiting excess storage of personal data. Data minimization reduces the costs associated with securing data and storage. It is vital for companies to know what data they have and only keep what they need to do business.

About Ardent Privacy

Ardent Privacy helps enterprises to comply with data privacy regulations such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), insurance data security laws, and more. Ardent Privacy's AI-powered data privacy platform provides a quick and easy to use data minimization solution to discover, identify, inventory, map, minimize, and securely delete personal data. Ardent achieves data minimization using machine learning and artificial intelligence to report on large data sets in hours rather than days.
LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ardent-privacy

About TEDCO

TEDCO enhances economic development growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology companies in Maryland.