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time, latitude, longitude, identification number of the cell phone, and signal
strength. After these data are collected, they may be aggregated for additional
analysis, cleansed of personally identifiable information, and sold for use in other
applications, such as navigation, traffic services, or business development.
For example, mobile phone data are often used to improve navigation by
monitoring congestion along interstates and highways. The average speed of mobile
phones is compared with the speed limit along a section of highway to determine
which routes are flowing normally and which are congested. Older models of
mobile phones determine their location by triangulating between mobile phone
towers, whereas most modern phones now use GPS to determine their location.
This information provides individuals with the ability to find the shortest or quickest
route to their destination using mobile phone data. Further analysis of mobile phones
that are traveling along highways provides a method to estimate the number of
vehicles traveling along a route at different time periods. This information is useful
for transportation departments for traffic planning, for businesses for determining
locations for new franchises, and for numerous other applications.
14.3.4
Issues of Privacy with Mobile Location Data
Although the collection of near real-time mobile location data to support emergency
response greatly increases situational awareness of response personnel and planners;
citizens are often concerned with the government or individuals using such informa-
tion to invade their privacy, track their movement, or in an investigation following
an attack.
Personally identifiable information (PII) includes information such as name,
social security number, phone number, home address, etc. PII is not needed when
collecting real-time mobile location data to support emergency response. Protective
measures such as stripping PII from data before mobile phone companies share it
with government officials during emergencies provide a measure of privacy. Another
measure for protecting individual privacy is through the aggregation of data. In
metropolitan areas, mobile phone location data could be aggregated to the nearest
road intersections with an estimate of the number of people near that intersection.
These data would reduce privacy concerns while also providing invaluable data to
emergency response personnel. In suburban or rural areas, data could be assigned
by census block or tract, or the spatial and temporal accuracy of the data could
be reduced to reduce privacy concerns while still providing increased awareness to
response personnel.
With the increasing use of mobile phone data in the private sector to support
business development, government policies must be developed to address the
application of mobile phone data in large-scale emergencies. Policies on the
application of mobile phone location data in emergency response are limited to
nonexistent. Although citizens are concerned with privacy, they are also concerned
with an accurate and efficient response by emergency response personnel.
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