Johannesburg, 25 Jun 2021
The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) is now a reality in South Africa and will change the way data is handled and protected. With recent news about WhatsApp privacy policy changes and demand for stable, secure connectivity for remote workers, many businesses are unsure of their mobile communications strategy. That is why the expertise and experience behind Centurion-based mobile technology solutions company Cellfind adds immediate value.
The trusted services and solutions partner Cellfind, a subsidiary of the DNI Group, started its operations in 2003. It has continuously put itself on the map for the roll-out of professional business-centric mobile app services in association with South African mobile network operators, including Vodacom and MTN.
It is the name behind the launch of Vodacom’s Look4Me and Look4Help VAS services, and MTN’s WhereRU and 2Myaid offerings.
Cellfind is one of the founding members of the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA) and has been a registered services provider since the organisation’s inception.
There are over 230 members all competing in this space.
In 2009, Cellfind reviewed its strategy and decided to provide WASP aggregation services in the South Africa market.
Cellfind continued to invest and enhance its mobile messaging communication services and solutions, making it one of the leading mobile communication services companies in South Africa.
Personal data and loyalty
The company believes customer data privacy is about more than just regulatory compliance.
It can play a critical part in brand and customer loyalty, says CTO Theo Lategan. “Most consumers believe that the way their personal data is treated reflects how they are treated as customers. Getting it right can give a company the competitive advantage and, as an organisation, we are dedicated to providing the necessary peace of mind when it comes to dealing with personal information.”
As South Africa readies for the realities of POPIA, how a service provider deals with data is paramount.
Says Lategan: “We are committed to business practices in compliance with all relevant legislation in the Republic of South Africa, which includes, but is not limited to POPIA and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002. We provide the assurance as the operator to the responsible party, that all personal information exchanged pursuant thereto shall be processed in strict compliance with the provisions of POPIA. The organisation will at all times process personal information exclusively for purposes of carrying out its obligations in terms of any agreement in place between ourselves and the responsible party and will treat all personal information as confidential at all times.”
Lategan adds: “We strive to provide adequate training to all of our staff, contractors and agents to ensure compliance with the POPIA requirements relating to personal information processing, use, and confidentiality while at the same time enforcing various industry standard policies and procedures that are put in place to ensure data security.”
What’s up WhatsApp?
With all the noise in the media since the announcement of the updates to WhatsApp’s privacy policy, Lategan says it seems like many users interpreted this update as ‘WhatsApp compromising the privacy focus it was known for’.
“This is not entirely true,” he adds. “By default, all communications on WhatsApp are still encrypted end-to-end, meaning that messages and photos will still only be viewable by the users that are in conversation with each other and will not be shared with Facebook or any other company. WhatsApp still does not keep messaging or call logs, can’t see shared locations of its users, and won’t share their contacts with the parent company or any other company."
He explains that the update is mainly meant for businesses using its messaging platform. This means that the application could possibly share user details such as their phone number and transaction data.
“This data can then be used for commercial purposes like ad targeting on Facebook and some of this information is also stored on Facebook’s servers. Most WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted, meaning they can only be accessed by the people conversing with each other. Effectively this means that the main features of WhatsApp remain as private as always.
"The new privacy policy primarily concerns messaging businesses on WhatsApp and what parts of the user’s data those businesses have access to,” says Lategan.
Businesses pay for the right to use WhatsApp to reach customers, which is one of the ways WhatsApp can provide its app to users for free. WhatsApp lets users message businesses and those messages aren’t extended the same protections as standard chats between two individuals.
“In short, this means that some of the data could be analysed for ad generation, product targeting, etc. WhatsApp will only be able to share user account information like a user’s phone number, logs of how long and how often they use WhatsApp, device identifiers, IP addresses and other details about the user’s device,” says Lategan.
The Cellfind executive says WhatsApp started sharing some personal information like phone numbers and profile photos with Facebook in 2016 to improve friend recommendations and ads on the app.
“Unless the user grants permission, WhatsApp won’t share transaction and payment data, cookies or location information with Facebook and this has been the case since 2016,” he continues.
“The data that is shared with Facebook and its subsidiaries is, however, not the data shared with other companies, like Cellfind, that offer the WhatsApp Business API as a service. The only data provided to companies that provide the WhatsApp Business Messaging service to corporate companies would be the MSISDN to ensure a valid response path and the actual message content meant for the business that the user wants to engage with. This does not mean that there is no privacy or security in place for the messages that pass through the systems. From a provider’s point of view, like Cellfind, all the communication is still encrypted end-to-end and messages are only shared with the intended recipient. Any and all data is secured in the data vault and will only be persisted for as long as is required to complete engagements between corporates and their customers/consumers. While this data is in the system, it is not used for any form of analysis or shared with any other party, other than the intended business that a user wants to communicate with,” Lategan says.
Cellfind’s value proposition
Cellfind’s value proposition is based on three core pillars:
- Growing your business – Working with clients to grasp a clear understanding of their business and pain points that allow the company to facilitate improved customer engagement with their customers, as well as to identify new and improved mobile communication solutions that can save on costs and drive growth.
- Retain your customers – Customer service excellence is a critical piece of the retention puzzle and this is why the company strives for the best customer experience for clients.
- Build partnerships – By fostering lasting partnerships built on trust and a common goal, these collaborations give Cellfind the edge when it comes to thinking differently about how business is done and how to remain ahead of the pack.
Armed with its technical expertise and market experience – along with the resources to assure customers of full security and information protection, Cellfind remains focused on providing a full, multi- and omni-channel messaging service and experience to customers.
Lategan continues: “One of the latest additions to our messaging suite of products is our WhatsApp for Business API offering, enabling corporate companies to engage with their customers anywhere in the world on yet another familiar platform. The Mobiserv platform is a one-stop consolidated API that makes customer communication more engaging, be it reaching out with SMS, USSD, WhatsApp, Telegram or generating automated, self-help type message responses.
“We now offer an entire suite of mobile services and solutions that includes, among others, mobile panic buttons, assist services, prepaid airtime/data/electricity, mobile document/content presentation, messaging solutions and other OTT services.”
As long as business interacts with customers via the mobile channel, Cellfind is ready to add value.
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