MSG91 is launching an SMS messaging service that allows a brand to text in the users native language – a feature that could allay SMS data privacy concerns.

In November of last year, Tech Crunch reported on the findings of Sébastien Kaul, a Berlin-based security researcher, who stumbled on an exposed SMS (Short Message Service) server belonging to the company of Voxox — which was without password protection.

“Although Kaul found the exposed server on Shodan, a search engine for publicly available devices and databases, it was also attached to one of Voxox’s own subdomains. Worse, the database — running on Amazon’s Elasticsearch — was configured with a Kibana front-end, making the data within easily readable, browsable and searchable for names, cell numbers and the contents of the text messages themselves.”

The article later detailed it was not until Tech Crunch sent Voxox an inquiry that the database was made inactive by the San Diego based communications company.

Other Messaging Options

In January, Tech Crunch detailed data-based end-to-end encrypted messaging services like Signal, WhatsApp, Wire, and Wickr which provide security to users — many of which are utilized by journalists and others dealing with sensitive information.

“Sent messages are scrambled on one end of the conversation — the device — and unscrambled at the other end on the recipient’s device,” they begin. “This makes it near-impossible for anyone — even the app maker — to see what’s being said.”

Later in the piece, it was detailed just how secure using Signal is.

“A recent government demand for Signal’s data showed that the app maker has almost nothing to turn over. Not only are your messages encrypted, each person in the conversation can set messages to expire — so that even if a device is compromised, the messages can be set to already disappear. You can also add a separate lock screen on the app for additional security. And the app keeps getting stronger and stronger. Recently, Signal rolled out a new feature that masks the phone number of a message sender, making it better for sender anonymity.”

However, new technology is making the SMS text messaging service more transparent and accessible for users to communicate across language barriers.

MSG91 Native Language App

“We are launching a service that allows Brands to send Transactional & Promotional SMS to their customers in their preferred native language,” began Priya Choudhary, Marketing Communications, MSG91 in correspondence with Citizen Truth. “The feature automatically detects the user’s territory/country and converts the SMS in a local language.”

With consumers facing ongoing data security concerns, brands being able to communicate with potential customers in their native language — suspicion of hacking attempts are less likely. A portion of the press release provided to Citizen Truth reads as follows:

Indore, Madhya Pradesh – MSG91, an enterprise A2P communication solutions provider, announces the launch of its exclusive app for native language SMS that offers the option to choose incoming text language from 146 world languages. The app enables brands sending SMS using MSG91’s services to choose if they want to communicate with their customers in their regional language or in English. The recipients can choose the language in which they wish to receive the text and save their preferences for the future.

English is a universal business language, but, there are more than 150 to 200 languages that are spoken by more than a million people across the globe. Also, Asia, Africa, Europe and some other regions are dominated by multi-language speaking nations. This offering is particularly relevant for B2C brands in e-commerce, travel & tourism, entertainment and financial services that are looking to reach larger masses.

“Choosing a native language to communicate with the local audience is a wise move and we recognized this trend years ago. No matter how well-drafted your message is in English, sometimes you cannot expect a reaction from customers located in some deep pocket of the multi-language speaking nations,” Pushpendra Agarwal, CEO and founder, MSG91 was quoted as stating later in the press release describing further motive behind the new technology.

A 2014 study by the Common Sense Advisory report, Can’t Read, Won’t Buy, found consumers are more likely to both buy and be repeat buyers when encountering text in their native language.