Spanish ISPs Fall Short of Robust Commitments to User Privacy in New Eticas’ Report

Spanish Internet Service Providers (ISPs) continue to fall short of robust transparency about their data protection and user privacy practices, with many failing to meet criteria  that directly builds on Spanish and EU data protection regulations.

While highlighting that internet companies in Spain need to step up their user privacy game, Eticas Foundation’s third edition of ¿Quien Defiende Tus Datos? (Who Defends Your Data?) Spain showed that Movistar (Telefónica) maintained a leadership position among companies evaluated, with a total of 18 out of 21 points. The ISP scored well in all evaluated criteria except for user notification. On the other hand, Som Conexión received the lowest score, with just 3.5 points.

All of Spain’s ISPs received credits in the privacy policy category, which covers crucial information companies should provide users about their data processing practices. ISPs made significant strides in this category in Eticas’ last report. Yet, this year’s edition shows companies have lost traction, improving in some parameters but losing credit for others. The balance between advances and gaps of Spain’s Internet companies shows there is still plenty of room for progress.

This year, Eticas checked public policies and documents of 15 Internet companies that handle user data in their day-to-day activities, including telecom providers, home sales and rental sites, and apps for selling second-hand goods. Eticas added three new companies to the report: the telecom provider Digi Spain Telecom, the second-hand goods app Vinted, and the startup Trovit.es, which offers deals for selling or renting homes, cars, and other products. Telecom provider Euskatel is no longer in the ranking after its acquisition by MásMóvil.

This year’s study has also introduced new criteria. To earn a full star, companies’ privacy policies must state why and through which channels they collect user data. Considering the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

[…]
Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.