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Telcos Waking Up To the Value of Your Location

Posted by kdawson on from the cdrs-from-your-cars dept.

holy_calamity writes "Cell phone networks represent probably the most effective data collectors of all time: almost everyone's movements and communications are logged in some way by these firms thanks to the ubiquity of cell phones. Now they're beginning to wake up to the value of that data, as researchers mine call records to study travel and social patterns at previously unimaginable scales. Not surprisingly, some are thinking about how to monetize that data, too."

9 of 178 comments (clear)

  1. Re:This has already been done before... by Gr8Apes · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'm pretty sure this will fall afoul of some existing law regarding wiretapping or some such. Unless, of course, the customer opts in, or fails to opt out.

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    The cesspool just got a check and balance.
  2. Re:Anybody knows the details of location measureme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Wikipedia, see Mobile_phone_tracking

  3. Re:Anybody knows the details of location measureme by maxume · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location-based_service#Locating_methods

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    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  4. Re:Anybody knows the details of location measureme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you walk around then your mobile logs at least into one mobile cell. If there are three cells around you then you can do triangulation. There's an open source project that can make use of this data from within your mobile: http://opencellid.org/

  5. Re:Value by Steve+S · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here you go:
    http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/

    "Scripts can be run interactively in a terminal, in the background, or via Locale. Python, Perl, JRuby, Lua, BeanShell, JavaScript, Tcl, and shell are currently supported"

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  6. Re:Value by Guillermito · · Score: 2, Informative

    You mean like this? http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2009/06/introducing-android-scripting.html

  7. Re:Anybody knows the details of location measureme by Darkman,+Walkin+Dude · · Score: 1, Informative

    Only needs two, the third point of the triangle in "triangulation" is you.

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    What he can't kill, he has sex on. Trent.
  8. Re:"Value Added" by scooter.higher · · Score: 2, Informative

    They already hand it over for free:

    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/01/1919243/Sprint-Revealed-Customer-GPS-Data-8-Million-Times

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    Ramen
  9. Re:prepaid is the way to go for privacy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    The bill is already written. http://www.switched.com/2010/05/27/proposed-bill-would-require-ids-for-prepaid-cell-phones/