Mobile Phone Use Patterns Identify Individuals Better Than Fingerprints

chicksdaddy writes "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."

Comments

Many thanks for this submit !

[Taco Cowboy]

I learn something very useful today !!

It really sends chills up my spine reading TFA --- it IS that easy to identify and track and predict the location of any individual based on what TFA has outlined !!

Man ... I think I gotta get more cellphones with different phone companies, that way I can rotate the use of the phones to cut down of the chance of being identified

Construct the Big Brother

[puddingebola]

And there I was, seriously considering running out and buying a dumbphone and a pay as you go plan, and then more news of the Orwellian nightmare we are all dilegently constructing. Isn't there some wisdom in smashing your computer with a hammer and throwing your cell phone in the toilet?

Re:I did not consenet

[SJHillman]

You signed a TOS or contract for a cell phone. Go read it and you'll find you consented to a lot of things. Except lube, you opted out of that.

Re:+5 Bullshit

[SJHillman]

For many people, changing their fingerprints is easier than changing their cell phone habits.

Re:I did not consenet

[swilde23]

Not that you really have a choice, but which link in the Humancentipad do you want to be?

Profound implications!

[openfrog]

Profound implications for privacy... The analogies are perplexing. Should I also worry about the fact that I have ten fingers with ten fingerprints at the end of them (not mentioning toes) means that it is impossible for me to have privacy? Recent research on 1.5 Million users shows that phone numbers uniquely identify subjects 100% of the time. That does not sound like this has profound implications for privacy, does it? Now admittedly, they talk about randomly chosen "spatio-temporal points", meaning, if you think of it, that you have a good chance at any time, of being either at home or at your place of work. But since your phone number already identifies you, the profound implications for privacy referred to in the article somehow escape me...

Re:Profound implications!

[gmclapp]

Well said. Consider this hypothetical: You're looking for a specific person, the only information you have about them is their phone number. So, to identify them, you pick two random cell phone towers that their phone linked to and try to determine who they are.... But you already know who they are... I feel pretty safe knowing that people with that level of common sense are chasing me...

Re:Profound implications!

[foniksonik]

Here's what it does mean.

With access to this data (even if its through an abstraction API), I could match back a profile created based on one device (using a device ID) with a new device owned by the same person.

So lets say I'm a retailer and I want to track your visits to my stores based on your device ID. That works and is anonymous assuming that I'm not allowed to access your PI directly (as is the case). I can of course ask you to identify yourself through an app or whatnot to attach a name/email to you and match that to my CRM system.

Now the problem is that when you change devices, pow, I'm out of luck for the anonymous tracking (the app would transition easily enough and could be cross platform, assuming you have an incentive to get it again).

However with this abstracted "fingerprint" API I could conceivably request a match back for your new device against the database and get your old device ID in response, voila - anonymous transition of the profile to your new device. I can now continue tracking you with no lost history.

Re:Profound implications!

[silanea]

The issue is not that they can tell which phone number you use, obviously. As I see it there are three problems with this kind of tracking technology:

Firstly they could potentially track you across devices based on your behaviour. Think "disposable" phones. Sure, here in the Western world those are mostly used by criminals, so being able to track them may appear to be a good thing. But such technology usually ends up in the hands of repressive regimes.

Secondly, mass surveillance is not just about you as an individual. By looking at where you go when and how long you stay there and correlating this with who else goes there at the same time one can make deductions about social networks within society without ever looking at one person up close. We already have a rampant practice of police doing what is in German called "Funkzellenabfrage": they request the names of every person logged into one specific radio cell at a given time. Essentially hundreds or thousands of people are made into suspects based on one point of data and consequently investigated, often to the point of harassment.

And, even more importantly, algorithms can tell when you deviate from your regular pattern. This is the Next Big Thing in the security theatre. And I for one do enough "random" stuff to be worried that I may in the future find myself singled out by law enforcement based on what some computer says. Geo-caching alone should make my movements stand out quite a bit from the general population. Just look at the abundance of issues with existing "dumb" solutions like the US no-fly list or the European anti-terror watch lists.

We always knew that

[Hentes]

But now we also have scientific proof that when carriers sell our cell data claiming it has been anonymized they are lying. There's no such thing as anonymous location data.

Re:We always knew that

[confusedwiseman]

This is the key point that should get action, but won't.

start calling random numbers

[alen]

all this proves is that most people do the same thing every day. wake up, go to work in the same place, hit the same cell towers and call the same people

i bet if you start calling random numbers every day it might make it harder to identify you

Re:start calling random numbers

[Laxori666]

Then you'll be easily identifiable as one of the only ones that makes all those random calls.

Re:start calling random numbers

[IwantToKeepAnon]

all this proves is that most people do the same thing every day. wake up, go to work in the same place, hit the same cell towers and call the same people

i bet if you start calling random numbers every day it might make it harder to identify you

'spatio-temporal points' ... 'uniquely identify 95% of the individuals, based on their pattern of movement'. Your argument is faulty.

Druglords

[spectrokid]

The one use I can see here is tracking criminals who use throw-away phones. Unless the "spatio-temporal points" are dependent on your phone model of course. (No I did't read the article...)

Re:What if...

[Anonymous Coward]

Far more elaborate than that, he talks out his arse

Nothing new here, move along now.

[Jane Q. Public]

The VERY SAME result -- within margin of error anyway -- was found like 10 or 12 years ago. There is absolutely nothing new here.

All this tells us is that law enforcement and other 3rd parties should not be allowed to get their hands on your cell phone location data without a warrant.

Hello World, The Solution...

[DontScotty]

regarding... "makes it impossible to remain anonymous â" even without the use of tracking software."

Hello World -

You are carrying a PHONE. Your PHONE is a mobile phone, and requires a radio link to the local tower to connect your call.

Yes, this means that a system must be able to locate you to deliver your connection, and maintain your connection while you move from cellular tower to cellular tower.

You must chose:
1) If you want to remain anonymous, then have your radio information delivered to you by one-way-broadcasting. Turning on your car-radio allows you to receive the broadcasts, without actively revealing your location. Drawback: it's not a conversation.

2) If you want to have a two-way conversation, then you're going to have your call routed to you, and your radio phone sending back. You will not now, nor never will be anonymous in this scenario.

The solution: make choices based on your values. Stop waiting for a Deus ex Machina.

If societal norm is carrying a phone, and you chose not to - then you are in sync with your values, and not society.

Similar to a person who chooses a "car-free" lifestyle, biking 20 miles each direction for a work commute. Not typical, but not harmful to society. People might think it's odd, but will either adapt (or, stop inviting that person to breakfast meetings at the office, because they are stinking of sweat :-) )

In conclusion: It's your life. Choose. Choose with the understanding that no two way radio phone conversation is anonymous.