2023-06-23 16:52:14
Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems filed a complaint once morest Telesign, a subsidiary of Proximus, with the Belgian Data Protection Authority (DPA) on Friday. He accuses this company of assigning a trust score to millions of telephone numbers “without anyone being informed or giving permission”.
Proximus took over TeleSign in 2017 through its subsidiary BICS, which handles communications on a global scale. This company notably provides security services such as two-factor authentication to internet companies. ByteDance, the company behind the TikTok application, the Skype communication service and the game company EA are among its customers.
In March last year, the newspaper Le Soir reported that the data of millions of telephone users had been transmitted from BICS to TeleSign. The latter analyzed them and gave them a reputation score.
According to Schrems, these practices do not comply with European GDPR standards. In addition, the data is processed in the United States, and therefore US authorities may have access to all data. Two reasons why he filed a complaint on Friday with the Belgian Data Protection Authority.
The spokesperson for the APD, Aurélie Waeterinckx, confirms the filing of a complaint, and specifies that a conviction for this type of act can amount to a fine of 4% of the company’s turnover.
€236.4 million
In 2022, TeleSign’s turnover amounted to 473 million euros, that of BICS to 1.13 billion and that of Proximus to 5.91 billion. The turnover considered will depend on the entity deemed responsible – if a fault is recognized – at the end of the investigation. The fine might go up to 236.4 million euros.
Proximus indicates for its part “not to have been informed (of the complaint, editor’s note) by any official channel” so far. Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems filed a complaint once morest Telesign, a subsidiary of Proximus, with the Belgian Data Protection Authority (DPA) on Friday. He accuses this company of assigning a trust score to millions of telephone numbers “without anyone being informed or giving permission”.
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