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An Austrian data protection interest group is suing Telesign and BICS, a subsidiary of Proximus, for illegally processing billions of telephone numbers. Noyb, a group of activists led
An Austrian data protection interest group is suing Telesign and BICS, a subsidiary of Proximus, for illegally processing billions of telephone numbers.
Noyb, a group of activists led by the feared lawyer Max Schrems, filed a formal complaint with Belgium’s data protection authority on June 23. The document mentions three companies, including the parent company Proximus, in addition to Telesign and BICS. Telesign is an American company that develops anti-fraud technology. It is owned by the telecoms company BICS, which in turn is wholly owned by Proximus.
In a blog, Nyob explains the allegations again. The Austrian activists accuse TeleSign and BICS of serious violations of GDPR laws. TeleSign would assign millions of phone numbers worldwide, including those of European citizens, with “reliability scores” ranging from 0 to 300 based on phone and SIM card data captured by BICS. Le Soir already reported on this in March 2022.
Furthermore, TeleSign and BICS would have done just about everything wrong that they could do wrong under the GDPR law. Noyb gathered the evidence by having some citizens request their data from their cell phone provider. Nowhere was it stated that data was passed on to TeleSign.
In addition, the data of European citizens is processed in the USA by TeleSign and converted there into the score with the help of AI. This is also no longer allowed since the privacy shield was blown up, which Noyb captain Schrems personally took care of. Results are also shared with third parties like Microsoft and TikTok without prior consent. Nyob is demanding that the GBA impose a fine of 236 million euros on Proximus, four percent of annual sales.
TeleSign reports to The Register that it has a data protection program in place that is compliant with global laws and regulations. Proximus responds via DataNews that it will thoroughly investigate the complaint once it reaches them through the official channels.
Source: IT Daily
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