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Orange, Vodafone Group, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica applied to the European Commission (EC) for approval to form a joint venture aimed at supporting targeted advertising services by third parties, including various privacy elements for consumer control.<\/p>\n
The quartet are yet to make a detailed public statement about the move, but the EC filing on the proposal supplied an outline of the plan with the authority\u2019s competition policy chiefs working to a provisional deadline of 10 February.<\/p>\n
A Vodafone representative told Mobile World Live the parties would not be commenting on the proposed JV while the EC was considering the application.<\/p>\n
The filing shows the venture would be equally owned and controlled by the four.<\/p>\n
If approved, it is set to offer what is described as a \u201cprivacy-led, digital identification solution to support the digital marketing and advertising activities of brands and publishers\u201d.<\/p>\n
The resulting product is expected to require explicit consent to brands and publishers from users, with an individual\u2019s identity protected from the advertiser.<\/p>\n
Consumers will be able to use a privacy portal to withdraw consent at any time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe JV will generate a secure, pseudonymised token derived from a hashed\/encrypted pseudonymous internal identity linked to a user\u2019s network subscription which will be provided by participating network operators,\u201d the entry added, noting the token would enable brands to recognise a user without revealing personal data.<\/p>\n