Telcos Waking Up To the Value of Your Location 178
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."
"Value Added" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Value (Score:3, Insightful)
SMS charges are absolutely ludicrous.
It amazes me that telcos can get away with charging so much for such a minimally network-intensive service.
Maybe we should charge them? (Score:5, Insightful)
If government subsidized telcos want to use my data to make money, I think I will charge them for it. After all what travels on their tubes isn't their data, otherwise they couldn't be labeled common carriers.
Re:Maybe we should charge them? (Score:5, Insightful)
prepaid is the way to go for privacy (Score:5, Insightful)
If you care at all about your privacy, buy prepaid with cash. They don't have any way to tie you to the specific phone that way.
Otherwise, if you give them all your data, don't be surprised when they use it for all kinds of things you didn't imagine.
Most people seem to take the philosophy of, "I'll just ask nicely and maybe they won't go all big brother on me". Me, I try to push towards the philosophy of, "Let's not give them this in the first place. Then there's no issue because it *cannot* be a problem".
Not just for this but other things too. I admit it requires a few sacrifices, but really much less than you might think. Mostly what it requires is *thinking*.
Re:prepaid is the way to go for privacy (Score:3, Insightful)
FamilyNet customer support (Score:4, Insightful)
"So, we noticed that you spent an hour at a known brothel today. The good news is we offer our special customers preferential rates for non-geographic billing!"
Beginning? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:prepaid is the way to go for privacy (Score:4, Insightful)
They don't have any way to tie you to the specific phone that way.
Yeah. Because a phone that's been used to call your Mom, your job, your Wife, your girlfriend, your bank and your favorite dealer will be virtually impossible to tie to you.
Re:Value (Score:3, Insightful)
It's called "charging what the traffic will bear", and it's not "getting away" with anything - it's extremely smart pricing.
I'm beginning to wake too! (Score:3, Insightful)
I am beginning to see value in turning my phone off and leaving it at home... maybe even turning off service.
Where are our consumer protection agencies when we need them? At every turn, the people we exchange money with are sharing our personal details for further profit. This should be illegal without compensation. If I am used in generating their content, and to be clear I *AM* being used, then I should get a cut of the profit at the very least and most certainly the ability to opt out with complete confirmation and the ability to sue if they violate that status.
Re:Why stop at location? (Score:3, Insightful)
They'd never do that, because then they'd have to upgrade their networks... ;)
Why can't they use this data fix their coverage? (Score:4, Insightful)
It seems odd that now that the carriers have GPS coordinates of where their subscribers are using their services, that they seem unwilling to use this data (GPS coordinates and dropped calls) to improve their coverage and services where the customer needs it.
Oh, that entails spending money rather than making money. (Fail.)
Re:Well then, ... (Score:3, Insightful)
I guess it's a good thing I don't have a cell phone. No cell phone, no tracking. No tracking, no data mining.
This is possibly the most dangerous attitude for people to have. The 'magic' of data mining is that it relies on probabilities that are learned from populations as a whole. Knowing how millions of people who do have cellphones behave can, and will, give data miners valuable (or dangerous...) insight about how people in general will behave. Don't think for a second that, because you personally do not have a cell phone, you don't stand to lose some privacy with the rest of us.
Re:Value (Score:2, Insightful)
Find position latitude & longitude
Compare to home position to determine the (straight line) distance
Subtract the trigger radius
If the phone isn't in the trigger radius (i.e. positive distance):
Divide the remaining distance by a maximum travel speed of ~70 mph
Sleep for that period of time, with some minimum/maximum
So long as you don't hang out around your trigger radius your battery life should be excellent, and you should get nearly instant response times.