Subscribers of Kazakh mobile operators may receive advertising messages tailored to their interests, geolocation, presumed income level and other characteristics. The operators themselves claim that they do not pass on clients' personal data to advertisers, but instead use aggregated and anonymised audience segments.
HOW ADVERTISING MAILINGS WORK
According to BES.media, mobile operators Beeline, Kcell and Tele2/Altel offer targeted advertising services to businesses. The client defines the parameters of the target audience, and the operator independently selects suitable subscribers and sends them SMS, push notifications or automated calls.
The investigation was prompted by the story of a subscriber who repeatedly received advertising messages after searching for flight tickets. He tried to unsubscribe from such mailings, but according to him, the procedure turned out to be complicated and required a personal visit to the operator's office.
WHAT DATA DO OPERATORS USE
As noted in the article, the operators' advertising platforms allow audiences to be formed based on various characteristics, including:
- age and gender;
- region of residence;
- presumed income level;
- interests;
- geolocation;
- spending on communication services;
- specific behavioural indicators.
At the same time, Kcell and Beeline stated that advertisers do not receive phone numbers, names or other information that could identify a specific subscriber. According to the companies, businesses only gain the ability to place advertisements among the formed audience and receive aggregated statistics on campaign results. Tele2/Altel also stated that information about individual subscribers is not passed on to partners.
HOW CONSENT IS OBTAINED
As follows from the publication, the operators indicate that the processing of personal data is carried out based on the subscriber's consent, as provided for in public contracts or additional programmes.
Kcell reported that consent is given within the framework of the Smart programme, the terms of which are reviewed following changes in legislation. Beeline stated that the procedure for processing personal data is regulated by the public contract and other company documents. Tele2/Altel did not specify exactly how consent for the use of data for advertising segmentation is obtained.
WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE RULES
According to the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition (APDC), changes were made to the Rules for the Provision of Communication Services on the initiative of the agency.
The amendments, which came into force on 28 June 2026, stipulate that the activation of additional services and the sending of advertising messages must only be carried out following a declaration from the subscriber—in writing or via an automated service system using biometric identification. The APDC believes that this mechanism is intended to prevent the activation of services and advertising without the user's informed consent.
WHAT EXPERTS SAY
The publication includes comments from legal consultant Zhandos Nurpeisov, who noted that merely including terms in a public offer is not sufficient in itself. In his opinion, the operator must be able to confirm that the subscriber has actually read the terms of personal data processing, and consent to the use of information for marketing purposes must be formulated separately and unambiguously.
Consumer rights expert Svetlana Romanovskaya stated that if there are grounds, a consumer has the right to refuse the advertising service, send a complaint to the operator and, if necessary, go to court. At the same time, she emphasised that the legal assessment depends on the content of the specific contract.
