"With DataGuard, I have everything in one place: a platform that serves as our single source of truth and an expert who supports me individually whenever I need it. That saves me an enormous amount of time and makes me much more efficient."
Ina-Maria Schauer
Principal Legal Counsel bei gridX GmbH
gridX GmbH is a German energy tech company based in Aachen and part of the E.ON group. It offers a smart energy management system for private homes and for EV charging infrastructure. As a registered NIS2 entity, gridX operates in a highly regulated market. It relies on DataGuard for data protection, compliance, and cookie management.
Location
Germany
Company size
Small & medium business
Industry
Energy
Product
GDPR
gridX started out as a startup without dedicated legal, data protection, or compliance roles. Much was done ad hoc and pragmatically. As the company grew and new rules like NIS2 came into force, it became clear that lasting compliance needs solid structures and the right advice. DataGuard supports gridX with a dedicated expert and a central platform for documentation. In this video, Ina-Maria Schauer, Principal Legal Counsel, explains how gridX keeps data protection efficient in day-to-day work.
Here are the key results at a glance:
Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse auf einen Blick:
With external expertise and a platform that standardizes and structures its work, gridX stays on top of changing regulations.
Intro
Ina-Maria Schauer
And I know that it’s all in one place, a single source of truth, so I can access it and say: I have both a technology platform I can work with, where I can do a lot on a self-service basis using documents that are provided to me, and, whenever I need it, personalized advice from a consultant.
I’m Ina-Maria Schauer, Principal Legal Counsel at gridX. In my role, I’m responsible for the entire legal function. That means not just data protection law, though that’s always part of it, of course, but also everything related to contract law, corporate law, employment law, and the full range of energy regulations we deal with.
Why are compliance and data protection important for gridX?
gridX is a German company. We operate in the energy sector. That means we sell a smart energy management system, both for residential use in private homes and, on the other hand, for EVCI as well. So, everything around EV charging infrastructure. The energy sector in particular is, of course, extremely regulated. We’re actually registered as a NIS2 entity. And that alone tells you that compliance and data protection play an extremely important role for us.
What challenges was gridX facing?
One challenge we faced in the past was that gridX actually started out as a startup. The problem is that, especially in areas like compliance, data protection, and legal, those are roles that startups don’t necessarily build up quickly. And of course, that was true for gridX, too, so we simply lacked the expertise. A lot was done ad hoc and very pragmatically. When I joined the company, DataGuard was already on board. And I was very, very grateful for that. We realized that business growth and lasting compliance aren’t possible without the right advice. And in fact, insufficient documentation and the challenges that current regulations like NIS2 bring with them complicate things and, of course, make compliance as a whole all the more important for us. And precisely because this is such a regulated market, you don’t get to choose whether you want to be compliant or not. It’s simply a must-have. That’s why we’re extremely happy to have found a partner who can do this with us.
What made DataGuard the right choice?
The reason we chose DataGuard was, on the one hand, that we really didn’t want to build the expertise in-house. We operate in a very broadly regulated environment. That means staying up to date on all the areas of law we have to cover is extremely difficult, so it was important to us to work with experts who are also able to work in a practical and pragmatic way. And the conversations we had at the time clearly pointed to DataGuard.
How do consulting and the platform support your day-to-day?
As an energy tech company, it’s also important for us that we don’t just have a person to work with, but also the technical solution and the platform that let us standardize and structure everything. With ad hoc requests, and when something comes up at very short notice, I can count on my contact always being there and ready to help with advice and support. And at the same time, I have a document and data repository that I can pull up anytime and share with colleagues across the company when customer inquiries come in.
What value do you see in working with DataGuard?
My personal highlight is definitely working with our main point of contact, Onur Turhan, because for me, that truly stands above everything else. The personal exchange, being able to bounce ideas off each other, having the opportunity to explore different options. Of course, I have a basic understanding of data protection law and current regulations and legislation. Even so, thanks to DataGuard, I can always rely on my information being up to date. And whenever there’s something I need to know that’s relevant to me, it’s brought to my attention. And of course, that’s wonderful, because it saves me an enormous amount of time I’d otherwise spend digging into the details myself. It makes me much, much more efficient, since I can also outsource contract reviews to experts.
Which DataGuard features do you use the most?
The big benefit we get from DataGuard is, on the one hand, in our day-to-day work handling data protection requests and updating our privacy policy. On the other hand, there’s also the fact that we use your cookie management tool. That naturally makes running our website much easier without us having to put in a huge amount of effort, so it’s beneficial for us in every respect.
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