Malte Spitz - Mobile Data

In 2012 Malte Spitz went onto TED Talks to tell the world about his views and findings on the storage of mobile data and its effects on mobile users.

In 2006 The EU brought into effect the Data Retention Act which caused a number of protests round Europe opposing the act. However, the act was passed and companies and state agencies have the option to store your mobile data for 6 months to 2 years. At first glance this doesn't seem to bad, theres nothing that important on my phone, but when you look at a whole area or nation the results are far more important.

Companies can track where you are at all times, where you travel, where you sleep. They can even see what train you get to work and how far you walk from the station to the office. Companies can also create an extremely large communication network. This shows who speaks to who and how information spreads.

Malte Spitz relates this issue to the falling of the Berlin wall. For example, if protesters at that time had mobile phones the German government could have found out who started the protests, where they would be protesting and may well have ultimately been able to prevent this. The Iron Curtain may still exist if this was the case. Tweeting messages starting protests in Gezi Park could have been removed or tracked allowing state agencies to intervene.

This is where Sptiz highlights Stasi 2.0. Stasi was the secret police in Germany from 1950-1990 which was in charge of preemptive security strategy and has been called one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies to ever have existed. Stasi 2.0 was the nickname give to the Data Retention Act in Germany. This truly shows the possibility of repression and control through mobile data.

Although it's obvious to pick out the bad implications of the act there also seems to be quite a few silver linings. Yes it is a bit of a privacy issue and a possible method of control but consider the marketing possibilities. For example, companies that have information on you won't send you mass marketing messages for products or services you don't care about. Instead they use direct marketing to show you products and services that interest you, things you've been talking about or searching for. 

This is already the case on computers showing you products you may have searched for, but marketing directly to your mobile could save you time and money. This could be utilised by real time marketing to your mobile. Consumers aren't always at their computers, sometimes real time marketing to mobiles can inform users while on the move. This has almost endless possibilities from showing sales in certain areas or simply supplying you with information vital to your journey home. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/malte_spitz_your_phone_company_is_watching.html