Geospatial Information

[dave303e]

So I have let on snippets about this and I have edited a few bits out but guys here are a few considerations on geospatial information in the form of my ineloquent ramblings on things I have noticed.

I am happy to be corrected and for stuff to be added as well...

 

 

Social media has engulfed the world and although there are many trying to avoid it as much as possible, our digital profiles are still present and more and more they are becoming linked, creating and combining data about us, some of that data is spatial. It is up to us to become aware about this data in order to protect ourselves because even though there are privacy policies implemented there is still data out there that can be helpful but can also be harmful.

 

As a Geospatial Analyst my career specializes in asking the question: Where?

 

GIS software and data is used to map and model space, identify locations, routes, terrain and analyze anything with a location. We can target markets spatially and identify potential shop, service and infrastructure locations. From this outlook and skillset we see spatial information very differently to most and with this there are key positive and negative safety points identified.

The Google maps app has recently added a function where you can share your mobile device’s location with others for a set amount of time. This is an incredibly useful function and already many use it to monitor their children’s locations or as an ICE (In Case of Emergency) function when travelling or exercising alone.

The android interconnectivity also means that one can track an android device linked to the google account via the online Google account management page. This is similar to the find my IPhone app which has seen success retrieving stolen goods locally on a number of occasions.

 

The Google maps and Waze traffic function is a triumph in sharing of spatial information. Locations and current speed of mobile phones moving on public roads is used to give live traffic updates. Allowing Google to access this information is key to having good quality live traffic data. Waze is also at the cutting edge of location based advertising which targets people with adverts only when they are passing by close to the location of a service, this is a streamline method of advertising which accurately targets the clientele.

Some of the sport GPS watches and devices such as the Garmin Cycling devices can be paired with a mobile device and this allows them to share a location during exercise for safety however now with the location sharing within Google maps this safety feature is redundant as you would have to run a mobile device anyway.

 

Knowing the location of your mobile device can also come with a whole host of risks. ‘checking in’ at places regularly can build routines which can be a foot in the door for crime knowing someone is always at gym or having coffee at a certain time allows for others to know you are not home or that you are going to be travelling a certain route whilst being tired from a gym session etc.

 

The risk there is not just for crime but this spatial information is a treasure trove for stalkers following their victims. If you are being stalked the likelihood of you clamping down on publically shared information is already high, but remember to focus on the spatial aspect of this information, your home and current location may be easier to trace than you would like to believe.

 

Notable spatial information that you can think is harmless is that supplied from Tinder, the online dating app, where a distance another app user is from you is provided. This may be harmless seeing as it could be in any direction, but much like the triangulation of a GPS position it would take just three readings to narrow down your location.

 

The map below explains this using dummy data. By restarting the app in 3 different locations, 3 recordings for the distance to another app user were recorded. From this a circle is drawn from each point, with the recorded distance to the app user as the radius for the circle. Where the three circles intersect is the location of the other app user. This is a risk as someone can pinpoint your location to a small area again putting you at potential risk.

 

The Facebook app for mobile use has a ‘friends near by’ function which alerts you when you have facebook friends within a certain radius, and while this is convenient for impromptu catch up sessions there is a lot to consider in terms of who knows exactly where you are.

 

Other apps such as Strava, Garmin Connect and Suunto’s Movescount have built in safety features to allow you to hide your sport activities. Strava also has a privacy zone where any activity within a certain radius of your house or office is hidden from others so that people cannot identify the location of your home. This is important seeing as many cycle from home and there is a large increase in bicycle theft.

 

Strava’s Segments or online races over short sections of track or road can easily be used to identify people who may have multiple high end bikes like strong or professional athletes.  Some also list the equipment they used so you can approximate the value of the bicycle in question. Using the link to their account you could then use other activities on their training log to pinpoint their home location for a break in. With the value of certain high end bicycles setting a privacy zone is definitely worth doing.

 

The Strava segments are also an admission of guilt for many law breaking athletes, there are segments which people are regularly racing on stretches of road where cycling and running is illegal and GPS data indicating people breaking the speed limits in areas. One segment alone has over 766 people having recorded times cycling in an illegal place in South Africa.

 

Strava segments are also on public roads and putting others and yourself in danger running stop streets in order to claim a KOM is also risky, the use of GPS data for real time racing is also flawed in that the GPS data is stored in plain text and can be altered. So your KOM could have claimed the time and have never even run or cycled the segment. So while segments are great motivation for training it is wise to take into other considerations when charging for that KOM.

 

Suunto, who make high end sport devices have an online portal which records their training data, and the default setting is public, so your training an movements are by default fully visible to anyone with internet activity. Other portals are set to hidden as default but it is worth checking no matter where you store or log your training.

 

Twitter and Instagram are also valuable sources of spatial information and filtering these streams of data allow us GIS professionals to identify where people are posting about certain things, this is useful in market identification and monitoring trends.

 

As with most social media it is important to control the public access to personal information and spatial information is no different so take a moment and review what spatial information you are sharing. Sharing within limit is perfectly safe and there is no reason to hide your training from close friends and family or trainers the same way your input into traffic will only make your estimated times more accurate or the way your tweet locations could possibly help someone provide you a service better one day. But be aware who has access to this data and what their end goal is with the data, a bit of common sense can go a long way.

 

 

[HairyLegs]

Sorry if you have an Android device:

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42079858

[dave303e]

Yup, the position from that is not as accurate, basically they only knew the position of your nearest cellphone tower but it is still also a concern.

 

Bear in mind the volume of information is incredibly vast and so this would really be useful to analyze trends and patterns at a coarse scale but to go track down an individual with this would be a fair challenge in my opinion.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

"The risk there is not just for crime but this spatial information is a treasure trove for stalkers following their victims."

 

This is often used as a scare tactic to make users aware of not sharing too much info but I'd love to know how many cases have been proven worldwide where stalkers have had the ability and skill to track victims in this manner? I'm thinking that number is extremely low and not even worth considering but I may be wrong?

[lechatnoir]

Thanks for this post. Spatial data is so damn useful. But can betray us so badly. It's a metric that can really be leveraged nicely is clever BI. When they say 'less is more' that's not true of data and especially spatial data - when you know how to use it. I wish the online portals like Strava, Garmin, Polar etc gave us some options to slice and dice our data nicer with a bit of a spatial component as well. Knowing what can be done, I'm aching to see it implemented. I'm a bit of a data-nut, but I don't think it's just me.

 

As for privacy, if you have ANY digital footprint, it's available in so many places. Your best bet is to limit it, but does that really work? From a Strava POV, their privacy buffer does a good job. Pity that it excludes me from doing an Everest on the hill past my house. Looks like we'll have to move!!

[Pieter-za]

IMHO - more or less in the same league as this :  

 

https://jalopnik.com/those-stupid-stick-figure-family-stickers-arent-putting-1577306235

[Gordon15]

Through working with our safety app, we've been involved in some stalking cases in the UK, and 2 successful prosecutions that I'm aware of. In every instance though, the stalker very quickly picked up the victims routine, rather than used their phone to hunt them down. It's normally quite easy to find where someone works, and after that they have a fixed reference point each day to start from. The rest, unfortunately, is pretty easy.

 

Looking specifically at cycle theft, even the stupidest criminals are able to quickly see which routes are commonly used, then it's just a question of finding a reasonable ambush point. They don't need to go to the trouble of finding out where you live and how to breach your security at home, when they can get the same result jumping out of a bush.

[dave303e]

IMHO - more or less in the same league as this :  

 

https://jalopnik.com/those-stupid-stick-figure-family-stickers-arent-putting-1577306235

 

Fair enough, yes there are few who know where to find it or what to do with it, but be aware it is there.

[Thermophage]

Data is a plural word. So you should all be saying "the data are useful". This is from a geospatial data scientist as well who may be a tad pedantic.

But yes...spatial data statistics are beyond interesting.

But I REALLY don't think there is any need to worry about your location being tracked by "ye old average criminal". In fact I really like they tacking features of the modern stuff, mostly with the traffic updates based on daily routes

[cfcjim]

Data is a plural word. So you should all be saying "the data are useful". This is from a geospatial data scientist as well who may be a tad pedantic.

But yes...spatial data statistics are beyond interesting.

But I REALLY don't think there is any need to worry about your location being tracked by "ye old average criminal". In fact I really like they tacking features of the modern stuff, mostly with the traffic updates based on daily routes

The word data may seem to be plural, but it's a singular noun: this data is useful.

 

Using the plural of the verb to be (are) is incorrect.

 

Here endeth the correction.

[Thermophage]

The word data may seem to be plural, but it's a singular noun: this data is useful.

 

Using the plural of the verb to be (are) is incorrect.

 

Here endeth the correction.

well it has evolved that way in the past 50 years or so, but usually in scientific literature we tend to use datum as the singular and data as the plural. anyhoo, pedanticness over n out

[Stretch]

my business too... as someone who's been in the gis game from unix days... seeing where we are now is in my opinion fantastic... remember the days of interpolation based upon cell towers... that was ground-breaking!

 

However..with that readily available access to spatial information comes responsibility. I personally have no issues with my phone storing my location history through Google location.... neither do i turn out off for some apps. I do however assess each app independently... and i never include my location with posts.

 

For my girls I'm stricter. No instagram location... and definitely no snapchat location. The more important aspect is locking down privacy settings and giving out your personal details freely

[Shebeen]

Dave, so how exactly did you meet your girlfriend again?!!!

Thanks for the post, a subject I'm really interested in.

 

Very powerful, but with power comes responsibility. But you got to remember that it wasn't that long ago that pretty much everyone's street address and phone number was public available in this thing called the whitepages phonebook(remember that?!).

 

WAZE/google traffic is amazing. I was thinking that surely there's a way to make local public transport timetables realtime online now. not because transnet have the will/capability to do it, but because every single commuter is on their damn phone!

[Bateleur1]

THanks Dave.  One thing to concider do not let every person on your Strava, FB, etc accounts.  That will close the door on so many unknowns.

[lechatnoir]

Data is a plural word. So you should all be saying "the data are useful". This is from a geospatial data scientist as well who may be a tad pedantic.

 

 

Thanks for pointing that out... we hadn't noticed. Actually, data is the plural of anecdote...