BIRN Presents ‘Telco Accountability Research Using Ranking Digital Rights Methodology’

On the third day of the Internet Freedom Meet in Belgrade, BIRN presented its months-long research report titled "Hidden in Plain Sight: Telco Accountability Research Using Ranking Digital Rights Methodology".

The research showed that the customers of telecom companies in five Balkan countries and Moldova face challenges in making sure their rights to privacy are respected.

The challenges range from language barriers that disadvantage national minorities to a lack of transparency or clarity with regards to company services and secrecy surrounding how and when telecom providers share user data with public authorities.

Such shortcomings, the research warns, pose a significant risk to the privacy rights of consumers in the countries concerned - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia and Moldova.

Applying methodology developed by Ranking Digital Rights, an independent research programme at the Washington-based New America policy think tank, BIRN analysed the practices of the two biggest telecom companies in each country: Albtelecom and Vodafone Albania in Albania; BH Telecom and Telekom Srpske in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Ipko and Vala in Kosovo; A1 and T-Mobile in North Macedonia; Moldcell and Orange Moldova in Moldova; and Telekom Srbija and Yettel in Serbia. A proactive approach ranked only what's published on the companies' websites.

The research found that telecom companies in Bosnia, Kosovo, Moldova, and North Macedonia face a common challenge: language barriers and the comprehensibility of important documents outlining the rights and responsibilities of both the telecom company and the customer.

After a presentation by Dragana Zarkovic Obradovic, BIRN Serbia country director, panelists discussed...