Replay Six Months Of A German Politician's Life Thanks To His Mobile Phone Data
from the press-play dept
Various governments have tried to claim that it's no big deal to get your location data from mobile phone providers -- with US law enforcement suggesting such information shouldn't even require a warrant at times. But it's interesting to see just how much that kind of data can reveal about someone. Shane Richmond points us to an absolutely fascinating visualization put together by the German newspaper Die Zeit. Apparently German politician Malte Spitz sued Deutsche Telekom to get access to his own location and phone data (the kind of thing that governments request all the time) and then handed it over to Zeit, who put together a stunning visualization of six months of Spitz's life. You can see where he is at all times, and Zeit cross referenced the information with other public information, including Twitter feeds, blog entries and other websites, to provide context and details as to Spitz's life. Somewhat eye-opening in how much information can be put together concerning your life with access to such phone data...Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: data, germany, malte spitz, mobile phone, privacy
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
But what about the Public Public?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: But what about the Public Public?
If I choose to make this information publicly available then the government has free access to it no warrant involved.
If I choose NOT to post these types of things, then the government doesn't get free reign to it without a proper warrant.
If I choose to share this information say on Facebook but lock it ONLY to friends then the government should not be allowed to snoop my facebook account without a warrant. Granted, if my friends share the info with them, then I will have a few less friends but no beef with the government (which is funny because the government also thinks that this is completely fair EXCEPT when wikileaks does it of course.)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: But what about the Public Public?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: But what about the Public Public?
To put it bluntly: There is a difference between sex and rape.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
My wife has two pay-as-you-go phones that don't require any personally identifying information to purchase and re-load (you can buy cards with pre-paid minutes on them from the store with cash).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
In Australia you cannot buy a phone (pre-paid or otherwise) without showing ID.
Even if you bring a phone and want to get a SIM for it, you have to show ID to buy a SIM.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What is shocking is that she actually got a job as a judge.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Sorry.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Broken website?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Broken website?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gander
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gander
[ link to this | view in chronology ]