Wed 2:26 PM - You are There!
Cell phones know whom you called and which calls you dodged, but they can also record where you went, how much sleep you got and predict what you're going to do next.
At least, these are the capabilities of 100 customized phones given to students and employees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- and they may be coming soon to your cell phone.
The phones were part of a Ph.D. project by MIT Media Lab researcher Nathan Eagle, who handed out the devices as a way to document the lives of students and employees of MIT, ranging from first-year undergrads and MBA students to Media Lab employees and professors.
Eagle's Reality Mining project logged 350,000 hours of data over nine months about the location, proximity, activity and communication of volunteers, and was quickly able to guess whether two people were friends or just co-workers. It also found that MBA students actually do spend $45,000 a year to build monster Rolodexes, and that first-year college students -- even those who attend MIT -- lead chaotic lives.
In short:
- we are predictable
- cellphones + GIS + data crunching + Government = Buh-bye civil liberties
Comments
Comp. Tech: "He's going to go into the bank and rob it."
Police: "Arest him!"
Police: "Our fugitve is walking down Fifth St. What's he going to do next? Aww, why am I asking you? All units: open fire!"