T-Mobile board member seeks clarity on data leaks

DUSSELDORF, Germany Oct 13 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) needs to get to the bottom of security lapses that have led to three major scandals this year, a director at the group's T-Mobile unit said on Monday.

As part of the investigation, the German telecommunications giant should look at management board member Timotheus Hoettges's role in maintaining security, T-Mobile supervisory board member Ado Wilhelm told Reuters.

"If someone has the responsibility for this, then board members must be questioned as well," he said.

"We were very surprised by (Wilhelm's) statements, especially as we are generally open to constructive criticism and welcome concrete proposals for how we could improve data protection," a spokesman for Deutsche Telekom said.

The company said Hoettges would not comment.

Hoettges heads Deutsche Telekom's fixed-line business and has been in charge of the group's data protection and corporate security since the start of the year.

Deutsche Telekom said at the weekend that a technical error made it possible to use stolen passwords to access data on 30 million mobile phone customers. The company said it had closed this security gap on Thursday.

Deutsche Telekom had already vowed to improve security after it became public this month that thieves hijacked sensitive data on millions of Deutsche Telekom mobile phone customers in 2006.

Shares in Deutsche Telekom rose 6.7 percent to 9.6 euros by 1138 GMT, in line with the German blue-chip DAX index .GDAXI. (Reporting by Nikola Rotscheroth, Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Paul Bolding)