Northeastern University (Mass.) tracked the cell phone usage of 100,000 people - outside the U.S. - to determine how far they strayed from home over time. Location information was determined by tracking cell phone towers as they made and received calls and text messages.
The study, done over a six month period, also included an additional 206 GPS-enabled cell phones.
The interesting tidbit of info for the scientists involved: nearly 75% of those studied mainly stayed within a 20-mile-wide circle for the six-month period.
While that's interesting, what's disturbing is the fact that the study was done without the explicit permission of the participants. While that would be illegal in the U.S., according to the FCC, the study was done outside the U.S., in an unspecified "industrialized nation."
The cell phone carrier who assisted in the study was also not revealed.
Albert-Laszlo Barabasi and co-author Cesar Hidalgo did not check with an ethics panel before conducting the study, or they might have gotten an earful. They said they were not required to check with such a panel because the study involved physics, not biology. It's not a biological study, but it seems to be more like a behavioral or perhaps socialogical study - and that would require an ethics panel.
In fact, Barabasi said, "This is a new step for science. For the first time we have a chance to really objectively follow certain aspects of human behavior."
Bioethicist Arthur Caplan at the University of Pennsylvania said, "There is plenty going on here that sets off ethical alarm bells about privacy and trustworthiness."
The study, according to the authors, could be use to produce epidemiological data, showing how a contagious disease might spread, or to produce more effective transportation systems.
That said, while Barabasi said the study started with 6 million phone numbers - and chose the 100,000 at random - how would you like to have your whereabouts tracked for six months without your knowledge?
Source: By Tech Ex http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/
