Chief executives from some of Europe’s biggest operators opened Mobile World Congress on Monday with an urgent call for policy makers to safeguard citizens’ data privacy and digital security.
"We are told that privacy is more important than security, but we are also told that security is more important than privacy. As a customer, I want both," said Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao, during his keynote presentation.
"This has to be guaranteed," he said.
His opposite number at Deutsche Telekom, Tim Höttges, agreed that "data privacy is super-critical," while Telefonica CEO Cesa r Alierta advocated for strict rules that will foster "digital confidence" among European consumers.
In January, the European Union unveiled the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which aims to harmonise how data is handled by companies operating in member states. The proposed rules oblige companies to notify customers of a data breach within 24 hours of its discovery. Companies that do not comply can be fined up to 5% of their global turnover.
The telco CEOs presenting on Monday were unanimous that there is an opportunity for operators to fulfil an important role in safeguarding privacy and security.
"80% [of consumers] are concerned about data security and privacy, but they are always clicking ‘I accept [the terms and conditions], I accept, I accept’ without reading them," said Höttges, who noted that many consumers still write down their passwords or choose very simple ones, like family names or consecutive numbers.
Höttges argued that this means there is end-user demand for a convenient way to manage digital identity, which is where telcos come in.
"The mobile phone SIM card is ideal for handling digital identity," said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, CEO of Telenor and GSMA chairman, who said that the average consumer has 26 online profiles and five passwords.
The GSMA hopes its Mobile Connect initiative is the answer. It simplifies sign-in by authenticating the user by their mobile number.
So far it has been deployed by 16 operators and is live in 13 countries, which is a promising start, Baksaas said.
"We hope the ketchup will come out of the bottle in 2015," he said.
Besides the call for action on data and privacy, Monday’s opening presentations also included one speaker who was unable to resist a chance to complain about regulation and over-the-top (OTT) service providers – a well-worn subject for a Mobile World Congress keynote.
Telco revenues are "bein g cannibalised by OTTs that are asset light and offering a service that is zero-rated…Yet everyone around us is asking us to spend more on infrastructure," said Höttges.
"We want a level playing field with Internet companies. We don’t want to push them into regulation, but if they’re out of regulation, we want to be out of regulation," he said.
