The Telecom Security Act 2021 is relevant here, as one of the intentions of that is to prevent malicious actors from gaining access to the personal data held by mobile networks.
And I think the PTAL data needs updating as the "forecast 2021/2031" maps don't seem to show the impact of the Elizabeth Line, Nothern Line to Battersea or even the more recently upgraded parts of London Overground
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if it’s aggregated and anonymised, it shouldn’t be possible to reverse engineer it to get the personal data right? (Esp given the “we don’t collect if there’s only 10 people” safeguard you mentioned”). Cus if that’s the case I don’t think I have a problem at all with it. Aggregated data collection is v important, and I don’t think a huge complex society can function without it. There are so many things we could improve if we were able to have the anonymised aggregated data available to be studied (e.g: healthcare, treatments etc). Ofc we need the proper safeguards in place to prevent data being badly used, but if we accept a census as a normal thing, because of the way that provides us crucial data (that is anonymised and aggregated) then I think it’s fair to do so with other forms of anonymised and aggregated data, and we don’t have to worry about that. I think people not knowing is slightly problematic, but I’m not against anonymised aggregated data on principle
Agree with the broader point on what you’re saying. The data is anonymised/aggregated when TfL get it. So TfL can’t see any of this stuff.
But it’s obviously _not_ anonymised by the carriers - as they have to run software to log our movements. (And then store it in such a way that lets them work out where we live etc).
So I guess my discomfort is that we’re relying on the goodwill of the carriers to be good stewards of the data. (And while I agree with you on healthcare etc, I find tracking particularly weird on location data because of its potential to impact, eg, political protests.)
The Telecom Security Act 2021 is relevant here, as one of the intentions of that is to prevent malicious actors from gaining access to the personal data held by mobile networks.
And I think the PTAL data needs updating as the "forecast 2021/2031" maps don't seem to show the impact of the Elizabeth Line, Nothern Line to Battersea or even the more recently upgraded parts of London Overground
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if it’s aggregated and anonymised, it shouldn’t be possible to reverse engineer it to get the personal data right? (Esp given the “we don’t collect if there’s only 10 people” safeguard you mentioned”). Cus if that’s the case I don’t think I have a problem at all with it. Aggregated data collection is v important, and I don’t think a huge complex society can function without it. There are so many things we could improve if we were able to have the anonymised aggregated data available to be studied (e.g: healthcare, treatments etc). Ofc we need the proper safeguards in place to prevent data being badly used, but if we accept a census as a normal thing, because of the way that provides us crucial data (that is anonymised and aggregated) then I think it’s fair to do so with other forms of anonymised and aggregated data, and we don’t have to worry about that. I think people not knowing is slightly problematic, but I’m not against anonymised aggregated data on principle
Agree with the broader point on what you’re saying. The data is anonymised/aggregated when TfL get it. So TfL can’t see any of this stuff.
But it’s obviously _not_ anonymised by the carriers - as they have to run software to log our movements. (And then store it in such a way that lets them work out where we live etc).
So I guess my discomfort is that we’re relying on the goodwill of the carriers to be good stewards of the data. (And while I agree with you on healthcare etc, I find tracking particularly weird on location data because of its potential to impact, eg, political protests.)
Did you also link to the DPIA in the post and I missed it? Or is this only available to paid subscribers. Thanks for you insights!
Was the AI generated banner artwork made with permission to use the artists data?