As every January 28th, we celebrate Data Privacy Day whose main objective is to reinforce and remind everyone of the importance of privacy.
Have you ever wondered what privacy is and what we mean when we talk about it?
Well, we understand privacy as the ability to decide on the use of our data, what we want to do with them, with whom we want to share them, for what purpose, when….. In other words, the possibility of managing our information while respecting our privacy.
The origin of Privacy Day can be found in the signing of the Council of Europe’s Data Protection Convention or “Convention 108”, which is considered the first binding international instrument in this field.
It laid the foundations that have come to be consolidated in the current applicable regulations on the subject, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Why is data protection important?
Taking into account the evolution of technologies and the fact that we live in a digital world through which we carry out a multitude of activities and interactions with entities, people or devices, we must be aware of the risks we face and be aware of what we are doing with our data.
The companies that handle our information have or may have access to a considerable amount of data that belong to us, that talk about us and can transmit an infinite amount of our information that, if we stop to think about it, belong to that area of privacy that we are trying to protect.
For all these reasons, it is very important to be aware of who we share our privacy (data) with and who generates a trustworthy environment for us.
The advantages of interacting with trusted environments and companies is the transparency they offer in relation to the use of data and this results in guarantees of security and autonomy in the use of our information.
Telefónica and privacy
In order to offer the highest level of transparency in this area, Telefónica has created the Global Transparency Center from which we report on our responsibility for data protection, the exchange of ideas and information security, and we position ourselves as promoters of a reliable, inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystem. We are committed to the responsible use of technology.
At Telefónica, we believe that it is essential to respect the privacy of individuals and therefore we work to offer guarantees and create an environment of trust for third parties, focused not only on customers, but also on the development of new digital services and products that we offer.
For this reason, we have a Privacy Policy that establishes common and mandatory commitments and guidelines for all Telefónica Group companies, laying the foundations for a privacy culture based on compliance with certain basic principles.
All of this is materialized in an internal Governance Model that establishes a strategic, organizational, operational and management framework applicable to the different actions in the field of data protection.
The main pillars of privacy are based on the following:
- Transparency. We strive to ensure that users know why and for what purpose we use the data collected with the premise that they will not be used for different or abusive purposes, we do not request more information than is strictly necessary. It is relevant to add that we occupy the first positions in several of the indexes evaluated by the main market analysts.
- Control and choice. We provide the user with different tools, means and ways for him to decide how he wants the data to be treated, as well as the possibility of knowing until when and being able to update the personal information.
- Security. By means of the most demanding and robust security measures, we take care to guarantee the security, availability and confidentiality of all data, both ourselves and the collaborators who interact with us.
With these premises we work to create a more secure, reliable and transparent environment to achieve a more humane world with the aim of connecting people’s lives.