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"We
need to have a wide discussion about data in Germany," Thorsten
Dirks told journalists late on Tuesday.
Data privacy is a sensitive issue in Germany due to memories of
Communist East Germany's Stasi secret police and the Nazi era
Gestapo.
As a testament to that the Hamburg Commissioner for Data
Protection and Freedom of Information ordered Facebook FB.O in
September to stop collecting and storing data on German users of
its messaging app WhatsApp and to delete all data that had
already been forwarded to it. (Full Story)
"People are right to scrutinize any attempt to make money off
their data. At the same time they are a handing over data
voluntarily to companies such as Google and Facebook," Dirks
said, adding that he saw a double standard among consumers.
As Germany's biggest telecoms operator in terms of customers,
Telefonica Deutschland is sitting on a trove of data that Dirks
said could be used for general purposes.
It could for instance use anonymised data on its 44 million
mobile subscribers' movements for crowd and traffic control as
well as "many other areas that we at the moment cannot think
of", Dirks said.
Telefonica Deutschland has created a start-up company called
Telefonica Germany NEXT, which will bundle activities in the
area of big data and be a vehicle for new initiatives.
Dirks said Telefonica wants to be a platform for all devices
connected to the internet, that processes all sorts of data
coming from sensors in cars, electronic devices and household
apparel.
Telefonica's flirtation with big data comes as telecoms
operators are looking for ways to expand their business beyond
their infrastructure to avoid becoming so-called "dumb pipes".
At the same time companies such as Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google and
Facebook are making money with user data that is provided to
them by user on a voluntarily basis.
Telecoms executives in Europe have repeatedly complained that
tech companies are stealing away their business while using the
data and telecoms infrastructure in which they invested billions
of euros.
(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
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