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New technologies need regulation to balance connectivity and privacy

| News | Privacy, IT & Digital Business

There is a tidal wave of innovation that is changing trends in the real estate sector and the only way to adapt is to collaborate with technological platforms and start-ups that provide innovation and immediacy

New technologies are advancing at a great speed and it is very difficult for legislation to go in parallel, however, regulation is a fundamental pillar to achieve a balance between connectivity and privacy of users.

This was highlighted in the first edition of the Andersen Digital Summit that Andersen Tax & Legal held this Thursday in its Madrid office which addressed the new challenges in digitization and privacy in the real estate sector posed by Proptech, with the participation of Esther Garcia, Head of Regulatory and Compliance Spotahome, Tomás Sánchez, CBRE Residential Intelligence Spain Director, Alejandra Gregorio, Housers Legal Department, and Isabel Martínez Moriel, Director of Privacy, IT & Digital Business Andersen Tax & Legal.

During the conference, it was explained that the disruptive application of new technologies in the real estate sector which Proptech is involved in, is causing an unprecedented transformation in the existing business models until now and in the contribution of value to the solutions offered to customers, investors and owners.

Martínez Moriel pointed out that investment in Proptech has been growing exponentially in recent years and that the EU plans to regulate the sector's particularities with the difficulty of keeping up with the disruptive advances that are continually taking place in the sector. At this point, he recalled that the European Data Protection Regulation (EDPR) was approved after four years of negotiations and, despite going at a much slower pace than the technology itself, has allowed European operators to play to their advantage thanks to the quality standard created as a result of this Community regulation.

In this line, Esther Garcia indicated that there has been a turnaround privacy with the implementation of the EDPR and said that "the new regulation of technology represents a new challenge for operators." As she explained, Proptech came into existence to avoid the bureaucracy that traditionally identifies the sector and that the regulations are necessary to limit the use of technology and the massive processing of personal data, so as to protect the rights of users and at the same time provide a higher quality service.

Tomás Sánchez also referred to the limits on the use of technology and, in his opinion, users are afraid to expose a large part of their privacy to operators, but the key is to receive services that provide added value. In this way, people will only give up part of their privacy in those cases where the service offered in exchange justifies it. At this point, he stated that, in addition to technologies that may interfere with privacy, special attention must be paid to cybersecurity, since all agents and operators are exposed, from individuals to a company or public administrations.

For the head of Residential Intelligence at CBRE Spain "technology is no longer an option to become an obligation", adding that "there is a tidal wave of innovation that is changing trends in the real estate sector and the only way to adapt is to collaborate with technological platforms and start-ups that bring innovation and immediacy."

For her part, Alejandra Gregorio insisted that the "collaboration of the real estate sector with technology companies is necessary" and that Proptech is not something fleeting, but goes further as reflected in the main companies in the United Kingdom, and given the interest shown by EU institutions, which are already implementing measures for the adaptation of the regulation of the sector.

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