Thank you very much for sending this study.
One of the common assertions we are hearing about so-called "historical"
geolocation data as compared to "realtime" geolocation data is that the
greater geospatial accuracy of the realtime ping creates an increased
privacy interest for the targeted individual. One can make the argument
that the ever-increasing density of cellphone towers and femtocells
makes historical cell site/radio locations as accurate as realtime
pings/multilaterations. But one also has to admit that cell towers out
in some alleged rural area must cover "hundreds of square miles."
This study provides much needed validation of the intuitive
understanding we all have that the historical record of our movements
accumulated over time reveals much more about us than an isolated
realtime ping. And that we have a privacy interest in both forms of data.
Again, thanks for sending this.
gf
On 3/27/13 8:24 AM, Enrique Piraces wrote:
This may be of interest to the list, an interesting study.
Mobile Phone Use Patterns: The New Fingerprint
Mobile phone use may be a more accurate identifier of individuals than even
their own fingerprints, according to research published on the web site of the
scientific journal Nature.
Scientists at MIT and the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium analyzed
15 months of mobility data for 1.5 million individuals who the same mobile
carrier. Their analysis, “Unique in the Crowd: the privacy bounds of human
mobility” showed that data from just four, randomly chosen “spatio-temporal
points” (for example, mobile device pings to carrier antennas) was enough to
uniquely identify 95% of the individuals, based on their pattern of movement.
Even with just two randomly chosen points, the researchers say they could
uniquely characterize around half of the 1.5 million mobile phone users. The
research has profound implications for privacy, suggesting that the use of
mobile devices makes it impossible to remain anonymous – even without the use
of tracking software.
More: http://securityledger.com/mobile-phone-use-patterns-the-new-fingerprint
Best,
Enrique Piracés
Human Rights Watch
https://www.hrw.org
https://www.twitter.com/epiraces
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