Today, we’re pleased to release insights into the key areas of data protection impacting the provision of mobile money services.
As the value of data continues to grow, so does the need to safeguard the use of data for the protection of the consumer, to the benefit of the mobile money industry as a whole. With this in mind, we release a set of Guidelines on Mobile Money Data Protection in 2018, based on inputs from a range of privacy experts and mobile money providers. These Guidelines outline some of the industry’s best practices in approaching the privacy, security and integrity of consumer data.
Building on that, this paper delves deeper into some of the key areas of data protection affecting mobile money services. These include: data processing, which is concerned with the lawful bases for processing of personal data; data security, which looks at the physical and logical security of the data; data localisation, which considers the limitations of cross-border data transfer; and data sharing, which takes into consideration the sharing of data between industry players and how this interplays with the need for privacy and data protection frameworks.
While recognising the multifaceted nature of data protection, this paper serves as an introductory piece on these specific issues. It highlights some of the potential implications of new requirements, and opens the conversation to mobile money providers as well as policy makers and regulators, so that these actors can subsequently develop frameworks that will protect the consumer, while boosting the development of the digital economy.
Data protection is crucial for protecting the gains and investments made to date in the fast-evolving mobile money industry, and is necessary in maintaining the market integrity and confidence in mobile money services which will prove vital for future growth and sustainability. As such, this is a key topic of exploration for the GSMA, and we will be developing further research on the aforementioned topics, with a view of providing adequate guidance for key industry players. As we continue on this journey, we also invite all interested parties to join forces and to work with us to offer best-in-class safeguards to personal data protection for all mobile money users.