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Cell Phones Tracking Nightlife Activity

Posted by timothy on from the ignores-all-cb-radio-based-night-life dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "A Columbia University computer science professor has co-founded a New York-based company named Sense Networks to sell tracking software to other companies. It is also distributing a free version of this software, named Citysense, which shows on your cell phone where the wild things are happening in your own town. Citysense 'uses advanced machine learning techniques to number crunch vast amounts of data emanating from thousands of cell-phones, GPS-equipped cabs and other data devices to paint live pictures of where people are gathering.' Citysense is available today in San Francisco, before being soon deployed in Chicago and five other U.S. cities."

6 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Don't crash their party by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nerds not invited ;)

    More seriously, it appears that this technology is GPS-only and not all folks have GPS-equipped phones. I don't understand GPS all that well and I'm wondering how this tracking software can locate them, do they have to consent to being tracked, etc. This also has some scary big-brother implications if it were to move past GPS and into standard triangulation of ALL cell phones -- with or without the user's consent(well, kinda -- what percent of average Joe users actually read their EULA/cell contract/etc.), to be used for marketing purposes(or worse).

    1. Re:Don't crash their party by icegreentea · · Score: 5, Informative

      TFA is a bit unclear, but it appears that in order to use this system, you also have to feed it your own information. Seems like a fair trade off (as long as its opt-in, can opt-out blah blah, standard privacy issues).

    2. Re:Don't crash their party by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Funny

      If a cellphone company ever tracks the cellphones of slashdotters they'll think we're dead.

      "Hey Jim, that guy has been sitting in the basement for the last 48 hours!"

      "Nah, he's still alive. Starcraft II came out three days ago."

    3. Re:Don't crash their party by vertinox · · Score: 5, Informative

      More seriously, it appears that this technology is GPS-only and not all folks have GPS-equipped phones. I don't understand GPS all that well and I'm wondering how this tracking software can locate them, do they have to consent to being tracked, etc.

      Actually, GPS isn't required to locate you with a cell phones. The technology exists to poll which cell phone towers your phone is polling and make a guesstimate of where you are based on that.

      With cell technology, you're not simply talking to one tower at a time because if you were traveling, then as soon as you were out of range of the tower, you would have the call drop. So the cell phones are actively polling the towers as you move to hand you off between the closest (or best signal in some case).

      This is how they locate you if you call 911.

      The downside is that if you are in a rural area, and have only 1 or even two towers (it takes three to triangulate), then they can't really tell where you are other than somewhere in a radius of the tower. So this technique only works within areas with high cell tower density.

      On a side note, you could always lend your cell phone to a girl when she goes to a Chip and Dale club and let the hilarity ensue when your friends show up there.

      --
      "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
      -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
  2. cool... by hugecabbage · · Score: 5, Funny

    now I'll know quickly which places to avoid.

    --
    oO0Oo
  3. what could possibly... by kaliann · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's a technology that doesn't sound like it could be misused by local or federal government. Freedom of assembly isn't really being infringed if Big bro just sends nice officers to "investigate suspicious activity", right? For everyone's safety, of course. Could be a fire hazard. Or underaged drinking.