Response to reports in the US that questioned the privacy implications of mobile marketing

19 January 2009 - Helsinki, Finland and London, UK - Xtract, providers of social marketing intelligence solutions that enable internet and mobile operator marketing to become more personal, relevant and targeted, has today released details of its 3D profiling engine which ensures the highest levels of privacy in mobile marketing. Using data analytics technology, mobile subscriber data can be kept completely anonymised, never sacrificing on user privacy but delivering a highly-personalised mobile experience through relevant and engaging marketing.

Providing Mobile Subscriber Privacy Today
Xtract Social Links is the first commercial software that enables users to leverage social intelligence in their marketing actions. By default, all customer data is automatically anonymised when imported to Social Links, thereby all data used in analytics is always anonymous.

Xtract's methodology, defined as '3D user profiling', maps users against categories of interest, rather than making individual data visible to third parties, thus ensuring the highest levels of privacy. The cornerstone of Xtract's approach is that there is no need to link the results back to subscriber data that contains sensitive information, such as what number has been called. All subscribers are linked to profiles, classes, and score levels based on predictive models and profile characters.

Initiative for Industry Standards for Privacy in Mobile Marketing
To highlight the opportunity that the mobile channel can provide for highly personal and relevant advertising, Xtract has decided to set up a forum on privacy for the mobile marketing industry. This group will promote the adoption of industry-wide standards that ensure the highest levels of subscriber privacy.

Jouko Ahvenainen, Vice President and Co-founder of Xtract, said: "Using analytics tools, mobile operators do not need to mine data directly from individual accounts and so analytics tools provide the very foundation for privacy that users demand. Customer details are kept hidden, with the data always anonymised. Without using analytics tools such as Xtract, one could imagine a world where all mobile subscribers are blanketed with irrelevant ads and promotions that are useless to most of the recipients."

Timo Laaksonen, CEO of Xtract said: "Aggregate data is a key asset that is underutilised in mobile today, and can unlock the next, more sophisticated, iteration of mobile advertising. We don't support methods that use subscriber data directly for targeted marketing, as some social network operators in mobile and internet have tested. We recommend that mobile operators and social internet communities use data aggregates and behavioural data patterns to gain a better understanding of their customer base, instead of making user data visible coming from the network level. "

Xtract also addresses six points for mobile marketing privacy in its 'Brands Need People, People Need Brands' whitepaper, available on www.xtract.com.