T-Mobile US Inc (NYSE:TMUS) parent company Deutsche Telekom is apparently onto a new device, if facts smothered within a WSJ article prove to be accurate. Apparently, Deutsche Telekom may be onto a new phone that runs on Mozilla’s Firefox Operating System, along with data protection and privacy protection features.
The excitement about the proposed phone is not about device itself but the features it will (not) come with!
The excitement about the new phone that will be co-developed between T-Mobile US Inc.’s Deutsche Telekom and Mozilla is the fact that it ‘will ensure that privacy of users is never compromised.’
As the demand for non-identifying features on important apps such as ‘find my phone’ grows, Deutsche Telekom’s new venture could well break the glass ceiling, of privacy-eroding location-specifying standard stock smartphones.
The Privacy Phone is likely to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, in the last week of February.
T-Mobile US Inc parent’s new phone could well prove to be the solution, if pro-data protection analysts are to be believed. Claus Ulmer, who heads Deutsche Telekom’s data privacy division, reportedly remarked to WSJ, within the context of data protection regulation that certain genre of apps such as weather apps should be discouraged from identifying and spot-locating the mobile location. Instead they should be encouraged to provide vicinity-specific data. He further elaborated that the need to clear concerns about data protection in cloud-based services was paramount, because the lack of trust in such services are impacting the business.
T-Mobile US Inc (NYSE:TMUS) parent Deutsche Telekom’s new partner in developing the privacy phone, Mozilla is known to have secure browser settings on its Firefox platform. It already has a plug-in which says Do-Not-Track, which allows privacy protection when using apps such as Facebook.
Deutsche Telekom is currently in leader board position in Europe with respect to mobile operations in home country, Germany. As the demand for data protection laws grow, especially in Europe, T-Mobile US Inc (NYSE:TMUS). Deutsche Telekom is well positioned to either tap Mozilla’s earlier attempts at launching low-cost phone devices, or initiate new manufacturers!
