Privacy and security on the well-known social network TikTok have been questioned on several occasions, which has caused some governments to limit its use and has even been investigated by the European Commission. Given this scenario, Telefónica announced this Monday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) its strategic alliance with TikTok to collaborate on Open Gateway and improve the security of its users.
Open Gateway is the industry initiative that was launched a year ago by GSMA (Global Mobile Ecosystem Association) at MWC 2023. The objective of this platform is to unlock the potential of telco network capabilities in an “interoperable, intuitive and programmable” way through APIs (lines of code exchange of information) open and standardized, thus allowing developers to innovate new applications and users around the world to enjoy better experiences and digital services, regardless of where they are and what their network is. “This evolution benefits developers, companies, end users and, ultimately, the entire digital ecosystem and society as a whole,” the telecommunications company explains.
The agreement will allow TikTok to take advantage of the network capabilities that Telefónica has. Although The collaboration between both companies will begin in Brazil, it may be expanded to other regionsas well as other operators within the Open Gateway framework.
The first line of work is focused on the onboarding process to improve the experience and make it “simpler and safer.” Users of this social network in Brazil They will be able to register and log in to TikTok using their phone number Vivo –the brand under which Telefónica operates in Brazil–, without the need to enter a password from an SMS or a third-party verification system. This will be possible “thanks to the security offered by Telefónica Open Gateway's SIM Swap API”as clarified by Telefónica.
“This collaboration with TikTok is a great example of how digital service providers can work with telcos to improve the security and usability of your products“, explained the director of Open Gateway at Telefónica, David del Val. He also pointed out that “thanks to the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, application developers can access all the capabilities of our networks in a standard and coherent way in all the telcos”.
The next lines of collaboration will allow the social network to further improve the experience of its users by incorporating other functions offered by Telefónica such as device location, blockchain-based transactions or the optimization of fixed and mobile networks, among others. They are all under the “strong umbrella” of privacy of the Open Gateway initiative.
“Open Gateway represents a big step forward for Ensure a safe mobile ecosystem for users, creators and partners alike“, and we are delighted to be launch partners with Telefónica in this innovative effort,” says TikTok's global director of distribution, Isaac Bess.