“…with
its near-complete coverage of the population, mobile device data is now seen as
a feasible way to estimate temporary populations” [Australian Bureau of Statistics Demographer Andrew
Howe, quoted in The
Australian Bureau of Statistics Tracked People By Their Mobile Device Data
at Medium, 23 April 2018]
Cryptoparty
founder. Amnesty Australia 'Humanitarian Media Award' recipient 2014
and activist Asher Wolf recently reported that in 2016 the Australian
Bureau of Statistics (ABS) without informing or seeking permission from
mobile phone users ran a secretive, publicly-funded tracking program via
signals emitted by the mobile phones of an unspecified number of people, in
order to find out where they travelled over the course of an unspecified number
of days and how long they stayed at each location.
A
presentation of the basic details of this pilot study was made by the ABS
researcher leading the pilot at a Spatial Information Day in
Adelaide on 11 August 2017.
A second
ABS researcher also made a presentation on the day.
Spatial
Information Day (which has the ABS as one of its sponsors) is
characterised by the organisers as
an annual educational and promotional event and was first held just on 18 years
ago.
The
Australian Bureau of Statistics was swift to reply to Asher Wolf's Medium article,
stating that it has only been supplied with hourly agregate data by the telco
(Telstra) which
did not identify individuals.
However, the aggregated data supplied to the ABS was at the second lowest SA2 Level and some of these statistcal areas have populations of well under 3,000 residents according to 2016 Census data. Which makes the task of matching names to some of the tracked population movements just that much easier for a demographer or determined hacker.
However, the aggregated data supplied to the ABS was at the second lowest SA2 Level and some of these statistcal areas have populations of well under 3,000 residents according to 2016 Census data. Which makes the task of matching names to some of the tracked population movements just that much easier for a demographer or determined hacker.
Given recent
less than transparent disclosures by data mining corporations concerning data
collection/retention practices, readers might forgive me for waiting to see if
the other shoe drops in this ABS-Telsta data mining and privacy matter.
One might say
that thanks to Ms. Wolf we are all being educated further about big data and
the ethics of data collection.
This is the
response Ms. Wolf received when she contacted privacy experts concerning the
pilot study:
“I
find this tracking of people using their telephone location data without their
knowledge and consent extremely concerning. The fact that the telecoms company
allowed this data to be handed to a third party, and then for that third party
to be a government agency compounds the breach of trust for the people whose
data was involved,” said Angela Daly, Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow
and Senior Lecturer in Queensland University of Technology’s Faculty of Law,
research associate in the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society and
Digital Rights Watch board member.
“After
the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal this is yet another example of why we
need much tougher restrictions on what companies and the government can do with
our data.”
Electronic
Frontiers Australia board member Justin Warren also pointed out that while
there are beneficial uses for this kind of information, “…the ABS should be
treading much more carefully than it is. The ABS damaged its reputation with
its bungled management of the 2016 Census, and with its failure to properly
consult with civil society about its decision to retain names and addresses.
Now we discover that the ABS is running secret tracking experiments on the
population?”
“Even
if the ABS’ motives are benign, this behaviour — making ethically dubious
decisions without consulting the public it is experimenting on — continues to
damage the once stellar reputation of the ABS.”
“This
kind of population tracking has a dark history. During World War II, the US Census
Bureau used this kind of tracking information to round up Japanese-Americans
for internment. Census data was used extensively by Nazi Germany to target
specific groups of people. The ABS should be acutely aware of these historical
abuses, and the current tensions within society that mirror those earlier, dark
days all too closely.”
“The
ABS must work much harder to ensure that it is conducting itself with the broad
support of the Australian populace. Sadly, it appears that the ABS increasingly
considers itself above the mundane concerns of those outside its ivory tower.
This arrogance must end.”
“For
us to continue to trust the ABS with our most intimate details, the ABS must
maintain society’s trust. Conducting experiments on citizens without seeming to
care about our approval or consent undermines that trust.”
International
privacy advocates also raised concerns about the study.
“Data
the companies, like telcos, collect inevitably becomes very attractive to
government agencies looking to track, monitor, and survey people. Like here,
users are rarely informed, let alone consent to these uses. The impact on
privacy rights is severe: location information (especially combined with other
sensitive data) can reveal startlingly detailed information about your life
(where you live, work), connections (who you talk to or visit), preferences
(what you buy and when), and health (doctors and pharmacies frequented),”
stated Amie Stepanovich, U.S. Policy Manager for digital rights organisation
Access Now.
Read
Asher Wolf’s full article at https://medium.com/@Asher_Wolf/the-australian-bureau-of-statistics-tracked-people-by-their-mobile-device-data-and-didnt-tell-them-16df094de31
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