Big Four consultancy EY has expanded its law offering with the launch of its first data protection tool, DPO One.

Following its global deal to use Slaughters-backed AI company Luminance last week, EY Law has developed DPO One to help companies handle the "administrative burden" under GDPR and other regulations.

It is aimed at in-house data protection officers (DPOs) and has been developed to help them keep track of changing data privacy regulations and to automate processes where possible.

The move is a further sign of how much importance the Big Four consultancies attach to technology as a route into the legal market.

EY digital law leader Peter Katko said the firm would "not survive the next 100 years with consultancy alone – that's [only] one aspect of what we offer".

Earlier this week, new Deloitte head of legal and former Allen & Overy senior partner, Michael Castle, told Legal Week that a "smart, technology-driven model" would be key to the firm's success in law and could help them partner law firms on mandates.

DPO One was developed in tandem with the firm's advisory department and in-house software developers, and currently works for the GDPR European regulations and California's new privacy rights regime, the CCPA, signed into law last year.

Katko said EY will shortly add the South African and Brazilian privacy regimes, and that others are planned for Arizona, other U.S. states and India.

EY global privacy leader Tony de Bos said about 15 clients are already working with the platform in the E.U. and the U.S., about a quarter of which are in financial services. He said DPO One is priced as a subscription service, the cost of which depends on how many DPOs are using it.

Earlier this week, Giovanni Buttarelli, the EU's data protection supervisor, was critical of many companies' approach towards GDPR. He said they were "treating [it] more as a legal puzzle in order to preserve their own way of doing things".