It has long been believed that our smartphones record everything that happens around them and pass them on to third parties who can use the received data for targeted advertising. We have not yet been able to find confirmation of this, but this does not mean at all that no one is tracking you using your mobile device. As it turned out, Moscow officials have access to information on the movement of city residents.
How does the mayor's office receive this data? Geoanalysts are sold by telecom operators who have information about the movement of townspeople according to the movement of their SIM cards. Officials are able to calculate the user's location up to 500 meters - it was into such areas that Moscow and the Moscow region were "divided". The Department of Information Technology (DIT) of Moscow is responsible for the purchase of data; the purchase is made officially with the help of State Purchases.
As representatives of the Analytical Center under the Government (an intermediary between DIT and mobile operators) told the Vedomosti newspaper, they work with impersonal data - that is, no one can find out where a particular user was. Nevertheless, the analysis of the movement of townspeople takes place: for example, home is a place where a person regularly spends the night, work is a place where a person spends more time on weekdays from 10 to 17 hours. The system in the same way allows to identify people with traveling work and labor migrants.
Why do officials monitor movements
According to analysts, such data helps to develop the city's infrastructure. For example, data on the movement of people on the metro and public transport are taken into account when laying the metro, reconstructing and building highways. The information also helps to correct the data on the number of residents and working people in a particular area.
By the movement of people, one can assume the type of his transport. The General Planning Institute used the operators' data when revising the Moscow railway junction and Moscow Central Diameters in 2017–2018.
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Who transfers the data and how much does it cost
Geoanalysts are sold by all mobile operators, not only to city authorities, but also to businesses - such data helps to assess the profitability of a retail outlet in a particular location. The Moscow authorities have purchased data on the movements of citizens from operators for half a billion rubles since 2015. In total, operators earn billions of rubles a year from the sale of such information, VimpelCom reported.
The problem is that the use of geoanalytics is not controlled by anyone (or anyone). This means that it can become a tool for advertising, campaigning and other purposes. Do you think it is necessary to ban the sale of such information altogether?
Alexander Bogdanov
