In the context of this publication, primary stakeholders include most, if not all, of the following agencies or groups:
- National Statistical Offices (NSOs) are responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating statistical data on a country’s economy, population, and society.
- Mobile network operators (MNOs), or operators, may be private or quasi-public and collect and store (often temporarily) data that is generated by mobile phone use of their customers.
- Data protection authorities are public entities that exist in most countries to ensure that data protection legislation is enforced.
- Telecommunications regulatory authorities (TRAs), or regulators, are independent government bodies that oversee the telecommunications industry, including licensing and activities of operators.
Two other groups have interests that must be considered in these projects: (1) The people in a country who use mobile phones and whose data is being accessed for official statistics and (2) the policymakers and “end users” of the statistical products created by NSOs with operator data.
Ensuring that the public understands the benefits of the project, and that their privacy is protected and their data security is not compromised by data sharing, is critical to gaining public trust in government use of personal data. On the other side, the end users of statistical products who stand to benefit from the NSO’s access to mobile network data can be important champions of the process and smooth the way for data sharing.