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T-Mobile exec: Privacy must come first in mobile

New York ? An executive with T-Mobile who spoke at the 2011 Mobile Marketing Forum said privacy must come first in mobile.

During the panel ?Engaging Consumers with the Mobile Operator ? Opportunities and Strategies for Engagement,? the executive said that the carriers must get permission to deliver highly targeted ads for their providers.

?Privacy is the first quest for carriers,? said Michael Niemann, senior manager of mobile advertising at T-Mobile, Bellevue, WA.

For carriers the issue is one of push versus pull messaging.

?Eighty five percent of customers who have opted in to a program don?t want to get out,? he said. ?When you get into push messaging and privacy, no carrier wants to deal with that.?

The other speakers on the panel were Fredrik Hallberg, managing director of GfK Network Intelligence Solution; Joseph Kearney, associate director of new market development at Verizon Wireless; Ellen Roberson, director of mobile marketing and interactive media at AT&T, and Mark Yarkosky, director of product development for wireless services at Sprint. The panel was moderated by Kate Kingberger, director of wireless Internet development at the CTIA.

Latest privacy bill
Privacy was an important issue at the show as marketers look to engage consumers via mobile with the kind of targeted messaging that requires collecting consumer data such as their location.

The issue is a timely one as well, with two senators introducing The Location Privacy Protection Act last week.

Marketers would have to get permission from mobile users before sharing location data with third parties if the bill introduced became law. Marketers would have to make their data collection activities transparent but wouldn?t be prohibited from engaging in data collection.

The Location Privacy Protection Act was introduced by Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

?Privacy is definitely an issue at the show as these companies are discussing and thinking about what it means for them on a practical level,? said Jason Koslofsky, an attorney with legal firm ArentFox LLP, Washington, DC, who was present at the show to talk to attendees about privacy and other legal issues.

?The most crucial thing for marketers is always going to be consent and transparency,? he said. Regardless of the bill or any laws that pass, mobile marketers should always make it very clear what the user is opting into.?

During the panel with mobile operators, the speakers pointed to the central role that carriers play in these issues.

?You can see what is happening on The Hill with Google and Apple,? said Verizon Wireless? Mr. Kearney. ?Carriers are right in the center of that as well.?

The question is how to delivery on mobile?s opportunity to provide value to consumers and still be upfront about getting their consent and how companies are using their data.

Privacy strategy means opportunity
?The regulators are being very diligent that the notifications are clear,? Mr. Kearney said.

However, if companies asking consumers to opt in provide something that has real value in return, consumers will typically allow marketers to use their more sensitive data.

?A well executed privacy strategy will open up mobile opportunities,? he said.

One of the issues for carriers is how do they work with partners to aggregate consumer information through their networks.

?We partner on privacy and consent issue not just from the consumer protection point of view but to keep mobile valuable,? said AT&T?s Ms. Roberson.

Mobile?s value derives from the fact that it is private while still enabling advertising and transactions.

?It is valuable and we want to maintain its value as a medium,? she said.

?Today we do not monetize or share that consumer data.

?Our ad solutions uses our internal data in aggregate.

?From an aggregate standpoint, we are working on the business model for that.?

Others are also looking for ways to monetize location-based services.

?It?s another API we make available to developers to leverage,? said Sprint?s Mr. Yarkosky. ?There is an opt-in app that enables relevant information to be served up so when someone is in New York City, they can see ads for local hotels.?

Mr. Yarkosky also said the ability to pointed to the growing interest in providing mobile coupons and letting users make a purchase via their phone

?This is an ever expanding space where carriers want to participate,? he said.

However, while purchasing digital content via mobile is pretty straightforward for carriers, the issue gets more complex when you start talking about physical goods.

The real issue, beyond targeting, where carriers can provide a benefit is the billing,? said T-Mobile?s Mr. Niemann. ?Carrier billing is the most obvious and the best way to do mobile transactions but there are still some legal issues to follow.?

Final Take
Michael Niemann, T-Mobile