The NSA affair was a turning point: Never before were data privacy and data security as much in the public spotlight as now. The new report from Deutsche Telekom addresses the consequences and shows how things will go forward in data privacy and cybersecurity – just in time for European Data Protection Day.
"The revelations from Edward Snowden were certainly a wake-up call. Going forward, we need to keep our eyes wide open. Politics, business and science now need to work out solutions,” says Thomas Kremer, Board member for Data Privacy, Legal Affairs and Compliance at Deutsche Telekom. The new report on data privacy and data security explains what the possible consequences are: EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding underlines the importance of European data privacy laws in an interview, and US data privacy advocate Martin Abrams explains the differences between American and European understandings of data privacy. Together with Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges the head of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger stresses the importance of high, globally consistent standards of data privacy.
The new report, however, is not only concerned with the NSA affair. Other topics include the measures DT is implementing internationally for more data privacy, the risks and opportunities of big data applications, cloud computing and how hackers work at Deutsche Telekom.
Deutsche Telekom is increasingly focusing on data privacy and IT security for its customers and in this way differentiates itself from the competition. "This means that we also provide transparent information on current developments," says Kremer, and adds: "We are delighted that we have been increasingly successful in getting high-profile authors for our report who introduce their external points of view." The report was released on January 28, on time for European Data Protection Day. This was initiated by the Council of Europe in 2007 to create awareness for data privacy among EU citizens. The date is significant because the European Data Protection Convention was signed on January 28, 1981.