With our commitment to consumer protection, we want to minimize legal risks and strengthen the trust of our customers. We are continuously working to ensure that consumers can use our products and services as safely as possible. We are also committed to the protection of fundamental digital rights and other consumer policy issues with various initiatives.
You can find more detailed information on the topic of consumer protection in our Sustainability statement 2025.
Our most important topics in terms of consumer protection
Our commitment to the interests and protection of our customers has various focal points. In doing so, we are always guided by the requirements and challenges of the countries in which we operate.
Data protection and data security are extremely important to Deutsche Telekom. That is why we take strict requirements for the protection and security of data into account both in the development of our products and services and in the use of them by our customers. For more information, please see our Sustainability statement, on our website and here in the CR Report under Cybersecurity and data protection. There we also discuss how we measure the impact of our measures.
We continuously take into account new scientific findings on the topic of mobile communications and health. When planning and operating our mobile networks, we are guided by the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. We take appropriate precautions to ensure that the electromagnetic fields always remain below the legal limits. The aim is to meet legal requirements and make a contribution to health protection. In addition, we provide understandable and professionally verified consumer information on the effect of electromagnetic fields – both on our mobile network and on the use of mobile devices.
For the mobile phones and smartphones we sell, we provide information on specific absorption rates (SAR values), among other things. The SAR value is a measure of the electromagnetic fields recorded in the head, which are emitted by a mobile phone or smartphone during a phone call. This is how we provide information about compliance with the applicable device safety requirements. For more information, please see our Sustainability statement and our website.
We want to protect children and young people when using digital media and support them in handling digital content safely. To this end, we provide age-appropriate offers and provide parents or guardians with additional information and guidance. In addition, we work closely with law enforcement agencies, NGOs and other partners from business, politics and society. Further information on our measures can be found in our Sustainability statement, here in the CR report under Digital inclusion and on our website.
Digital fundamental rights and protection of minors online
In the reporting year, the European Commission commissioned Deutsche Telekom and the Swedish ID specialist Scytáles to develop a prototype for a privacy-compliant app for age verification. This app is intended to enable users to prove their age online without revealing personal data. This is intended to help protect minors when using age-restricted online content. The app was completed in 2025 and published as an open-source reference application at EU level.
In addition, we are committed to strengthening fundamental digital rights and respectful interaction in the digital space – for example as part of our “No hate speech” initiative. For more information, see Digital values here in the CR report.
Consumer policy commitment
We are politically engaged in helping to shape the framework conditions for consumers. Our key consumer policy issues are:
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Simple legal framework as the basis for a positive customer experience in service
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Commitment to consistent and understandable communication with customers
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Protection of customer interests in telecommunications (e.g., when switching providers in fixed networks and mobile communications)
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Strengthening comprehensive and cross-technology protection of minors at national and EU level
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Continuous continuation of consumer data protection (e.g., in the online advertising industry)
In doing so, we stand for a balanced, constructive and solution-oriented approach that is geared to both consumer needs and corporate interests.
For more information about our commitment to consumer policy, please visit our website.
Looking ahead
We remain committed to data and network security and want to further strengthen the protection of minors in particular. To this end, we are developing technical solutions that are intended to enable them to participate safely in the digital world.