Study secretly tracked 100,000 cellphone users' locations
By Joshua Fruhlinger 
posted June 4th 2008 11:32PM
posted June 4th 2008 11:32PM
Ask yourself this: Are you a statistic or a specific example? That's the question being raised in the aftermath of a study in which researchers secretly tracked the locations of 100,000 people to determine their movement patterns. Such studies are considered invasions of privacy -- and illegal -- in the United States, but this one was done in an undisclosed industrialized nation. The subjects were chosen at random out of a pool of 6 million from a mystery wireless provider and tracked based on cell tower triangulation and other "tracking devices." Study co-author Cesar Hidalgo at Northeastern University promises that researchers didn't know the individuals' phone numbers or identities, and offers that the results are a major advance for science. The study found that people are homebodies -- most stay within 20 miles of their home and are rather habitual. Scientists say the findings -- to be published in Nature on Thursday -- can help improve public transit systems and even fight contagious diseases.[Thanks, Doug]
[Via MSNBC]
95% of Americans only travel about 45 miles, round trip, for work. Many Americans work out of their own home.
It would be far more worthwhile to interview people on their public transit habits.
This happens with your phone off: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html
Why do you think the battery only lasts a few days with the phone off? If you take it off it will last months at full charge... Don't believe me, try it yourself
I, for one, find the study fascinating and have no problem whatsoever with this.
.... happening to other people.
It's strange that Nature is even willing to publish results that were created in such an ethically doubtful way.
We're all doomed... [and governments will know precisely where every one of us is doomed]
There could be big differences depending on the industrialised nation selected, eg I've heard that Luxembourg's population nearly doubles every weekday as commuters drive to work from nearby towns in France, Belgium and Germany...
Well, if they tracked me, I probably left my phone at home for most of the time. Hah!
Not really. This is Nature. Like they care.
This is nothing compared to how a certain government is allowed (literally) to perform tests on the public, messing with the air people breath.
I love this
"The study found that people are homebodies -- most stay within 20 miles of their home and are rather habitual"
Why even have a cell phone then?
Oh yeah, to impress your "friends"
Breaking news! Most people go to work in the mornings and come home in the evenings. They do this 5 times a week! This has only been discovered due to our comprehensive study!
I could have told them that without making any studies.
Really... "Human movement"? How is this anything more than what we could already assume?
Are most people going to be moving vast distances everyday?
Very over exaggerated importance of data.
20 miles in the UK is equal to about 500 miles in the US. Really how many people that live in London ever go outside the city on a daily or weekly basis. Same thing with Tokyo.
Going from Cleveland to Pittsburgh is like driving from London to Wales or Scotland.
People are staying close to home because it costs to much to drive anywhere. Ugg