Woodway Assurance launches with EviData, the first-of-its-kind solution for independent, AI-enabled and automated privacy assurance

OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - A new Canadian privacy technology company, Woodway Assurance, has launched its flagship product EviData™, a transformative enterprise software solution that offers the only automated, independent third-party assessment to verify that datasets meet recognized privacy standards while preserving data utility.

Built for organizations worldwide that work with sensitive data, such as in the healthcare and financial sectors, EviData assesses de-identified and synthetic datasets for privacy and utility and produces a report with a clear, defensible and objective assessment of the extent of re-identification risk. The need spans any organization that shares, acquires or analyzes personal information – from hospitals and banks to insurers and research institutions – reflecting a growing market for privacy assurance. It gives organizations the confidence to use and share data responsibly and demonstrate accountability.

"Today's world runs on data, but organizations can't innovate if they don't trust it," said company founder and CEO, Dr. Khaled El Emam, also the Canada Research Chair in Medical AI at the University of Ottawa and Senior Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute. "For too long they've have had to take it on faith that information was properly de-identified. Now clients, their oversight partners and regulators expect independent proof, and that's what EviData delivers."

Available by subscription, EviData runs within the client's environment. Clients upload their de-identified, anonymized or synthetic datasets and produce a risk assessment report. The result is a clear and auditable assessment of whether a dataset meets key thresholds for privacy and quality, is safe to share and can be treated as non-personal information. It aligns with and operationalizes the latest guidance just released from the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner and relevant ISO de-identification standards. EviData was designed for organizations that want to objectively demonstrate that they follow best practices for de-identifying, anonymizing or synthesizing their data, and to do so in a scalable manner.

EviData is a game-changer, as what once took weeks of manual, complex work by external consultants can now be completed by the user in minutes. By requiring minimal expertise and automating assessments with AI-enabled technology, EviData enables faster adoption of data-driven innovation.

"One of the design decisions for EviData was simplicity – we wanted to make it very easy for data owners and analysts to be able to get reliable results," said Dr. El Emam. "Risk assessments should be democratized and available to all data producers and consumers in the enterprise, and that's what EviData provides."

The new company is a spin-off from the CHEO Research Institute and the University of Ottawa, moving from research to a product that can be deployed at scale. Built on decades of research and real-world application of privacy enhancing technologies – and already generating interest from organizations seeking ways to show concrete evidence of compliance with privacy rules – it reinforces Canada's leadership at the intersection of privacy and AI.

SOURCE Woodway Assurance