Rich Communication Services: Other native apps

Privacy – Native apps

Vodafone provides you with an enhanced mobile communications experience through a specification called Rich Communications Services (RCS). If you don’t have Call+ and Message+ apps, this service is provided through your device manufacturer’s native messaging app.

RCS services are provided to you by Vodafone Sales and Services Ltd (VSSL), which is registered in England and Wales at Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN, under registered number 06844137 and registered VAT number GB 569 95 32 77. Vodafone Sales and Services Ltd if registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number Z1774497.

For any queries around RCS services please complete and submit our online form and we’ll help to resolve it.

What information is collected by VSSL?

When you use RCS, VSSL processes the following information is collected:

  • Connectivity information such as the numbers you call or send messages to and the duration of the call;

  • Message and file transfer traffic data such as the numbers of the sender and recipient, the file type, name and length; 

  • Your messages (such as any files or texts) are stored for up to 7 days in the event that the recipient is unavailable when you first send the message; and 

  • We will also filter any malicious communications that you may receive such as spam and viruses. In order to do this, we inspect the content of your communications and stop the harmful activity from reaching your device.

How does VSSL use this information?

First and foremost, we use this information to enable you to send and receive communications. We also conduct real-time traffic analysis for the purposes of routing and detecting any illegitimate Application To Person (A2P) – that’s companies sending you messages. We don’t conduct this analysis on a personal level; all your data is aggregated and the analysis is conducted on that aggregate data.

Where is this information stored?

VSSL stores this information in our data centres in Germany.

Last updated: 20 September 2018