Comments on: Your Morning Commute is Unique: On the Anonymity of Home/Work Location Pairs http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/ The End of Anonymous Data Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:37:18 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Lars http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-831 Lars Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:56:40 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-831 Sorry for disregarding your smiley, but having a heap of data all in one place is too huge a problem to be disregarded. The problem is not whether this is government or not, although being government, with all those pesky special powers helps a lot in misusing that data. The problem is the creation of single point of failures for data disclosure protection. Assuming we completely trust "the government" to always act benign, one cannot but observe that failures happen. The problem with disclosure failures, which makes them especially critical, is that they cannot be recovered from. Given sufficiently critical data, disclosure might be much worse than tainted or manipulated data. (I think secret services understood that part a long time ago.) The main problem why I am arguing thus is, that privacy arguments are often brushed aside by assigning them the "conspiracy theory"-label. One may avoid being labeled in that way by avoiding questions of government/corporation-trust and sticking to the technical consequences. (Does anybody need to mention wikileaks as one operation that emphasizes the difficulty of getting the information-djinni back in his bottle?) Sorry for disregarding your smiley, but having a heap of data all in one place is too huge a problem to be disregarded. The problem is not whether this is government or not, although being government, with all those pesky special powers helps a lot in misusing that data. The problem is the creation of single point of failures for data disclosure protection.

Assuming we completely trust “the government” to always act benign, one cannot but observe that failures happen. The problem with disclosure failures, which makes them especially critical, is that they cannot be recovered from. Given sufficiently critical data, disclosure might be much worse than tainted or manipulated data. (I think secret services understood that part a long time ago.)

The main problem why I am arguing thus is, that privacy arguments are often brushed aside by assigning them the “conspiracy theory”-label. One may avoid being labeled in that way by avoiding questions of government/corporation-trust and sticking to the technical consequences. (Does anybody need to mention wikileaks as one operation that emphasizes the difficulty of getting the information-djinni back in his bottle?)

]]> By: Arvind http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-529 Arvind Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:23:58 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-529 Everything is government controlled, huh? Are you sure you're not a conspiracy theorist? :-) Everything is government controlled, huh? Are you sure you’re not a conspiracy theorist? :-)

]]> By: Odchudzanie http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-526 Odchudzanie Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:56:20 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-526 Unfortunately this is the direction the world is heading - no anonymity and everything is government controlled. Now I'm no conspiracy theory freak, I don't believe in bitter old men sitting in a dark room and plotting world domination. This seems like a logical next step on our civilizational ladder. Unfortunately this is the direction the world is heading – no anonymity and everything is government controlled. Now I’m no conspiracy theory freak, I don’t believe in bitter old men sitting in a dark room and plotting world domination.
This seems like a logical next step on our civilizational ladder.

]]> By: Signalfire » Scrubbed geo-location data not so anonymous after all http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-447 Signalfire » Scrubbed geo-location data not so anonymous after all Mon, 25 May 2009 18:43:01 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-447 [...] data, it seems, might end up being a similar land mine, according to the 33 Bits of Entropy blog, which provides further analysis of the findings. A PDF of the original [...] [...] data, it seems, might end up being a similar land mine, according to the 33 Bits of Entropy blog, which provides further analysis of the findings. A PDF of the original [...]

]]> By: Arvind http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-410 Arvind Fri, 22 May 2009 16:12:51 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-410 Yup, that indeed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_data_retention" rel="nofollow">seems to be the case</a> in Europe. In fact, there is an E.U. directive mandating retention in all member countries. I'm not sure what the situation is in the U.S. The general rule is that Americans trust their government less than Europeans do but their corporations more. Since the purpose of mandatory telecom data retention is to help law enforcement, I would expect things to be much privacy friendly on this side of the pond. Yup, that indeed seems to be the case in Europe. In fact, there is an E.U. directive mandating retention in all member countries.

I’m not sure what the situation is in the U.S. The general rule is that Americans trust their government less than Europeans do but their corporations more. Since the purpose of mandatory telecom data retention is to help law enforcement, I would expect things to be much privacy friendly on this side of the pond.

]]> By: foobar http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-409 foobar Fri, 22 May 2009 13:07:37 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-409 <cite>I don’t know if cellular carriers themselves collect a location trail from phones as a matter of course. Any idea?</cite> I'm pretty sure they do. For example in France they keep the logs for two years. Law enforcement agency have access to this logs without a subpoena. It's very suprising when a policeman knows every location you were in the last 2 years... <cite>Yeah, most people don’t care but I’m kinda paranoid about anonimity. Even my home is marked in the gps in my phone 2 blocks away, just in case.</cite> But you still have a phone... I don’t know if cellular carriers themselves collect a location trail from phones as a matter of course. Any idea?

I’m pretty sure they do. For example in France they keep the logs for two years. Law enforcement agency have access to this logs without a subpoena.
It’s very suprising when a policeman knows every location you were in the last 2 years…

Yeah, most people don’t care but I’m kinda paranoid about anonimity. Even my home is marked in the gps in my phone 2 blocks away, just in case.

But you still have a phone…

]]> By: Kotlina Klodzka http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-377 Kotlina Klodzka Tue, 19 May 2009 07:04:48 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-377 Yeah, most people don't care but I'm kinda paranoid about anonimity. Even my home is marked in the gps in my phone 2 blocks away, just in case. Yeah, most people don’t care but I’m kinda paranoid about anonimity. Even my home is marked in the gps in my phone 2 blocks away, just in case.

]]> By: professor http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-366 professor Sat, 16 May 2009 16:25:49 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-366 I teach in a small college. I only commute twice a week to teach and the rest of the week I work from home and in cafes. I never wake up in time to even meet the morning commuters. I take the new york city subways, so there's no GPS to even talk about! Labor of knowledge also WIN! I teach in a small college. I only commute twice a week to teach and the rest of the week I work from home and in cafes. I never wake up in time to even meet the morning commuters.

I take the new york city subways, so there’s no GPS to even talk about!

Labor of knowledge also WIN!

]]> By: gangbox http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-353 gangbox Thu, 14 May 2009 13:44:14 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-353 I work in construction - so I typically change employers about 20 times a year. So my commutes are ALWAYS different - I might have one commuting pattern for a week, but then I'll have a totally different pattern for the next three weeks. Which means that I'm untrackable - even with GPS! Casual labor WIN! I work in construction – so I typically change employers about 20 times a year. So my commutes are ALWAYS different – I might have one commuting pattern for a week, but then I’ll have a totally different pattern for the next three weeks.

Which means that I’m untrackable – even with GPS!

Casual labor WIN!

]]> By: Anonymity in an increasingly connected world | 'Pataphysical science in the home http://33bits.org/2009/05/13/your-morning-commute-is-unique-on-the-anonymity-of-homework-location-pairs/#comment-352 Anonymity in an increasingly connected world | 'Pataphysical science in the home Thu, 14 May 2009 11:22:42 +0000 http://33bits.org/?p=176#comment-352 [...] was reading this article Your Morning Commute is Unique: On the Anonymity of Home/Work Location Pairs, by Arvind Narayanan, and found it quite interesting. (Thanks to @jamespage for pointing to this [...] [...] was reading this article Your Morning Commute is Unique: On the Anonymity of Home/Work Location Pairs, by Arvind Narayanan, and found it quite interesting. (Thanks to @jamespage for pointing to this [...]

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