Abstract
Mobile phone location data have become tied to understandings of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data visualizations have used mobile phone data to inform people about how mobility practices may be linked to the spread of the virus, and governments have explored contact tracing that relies upon mobile phone data. This article examines how these uses of location data implicate three particular issues that have been present in the growing body of locative media research: (1) anonymized data are often not anonymous, (2) location data are not always representative and can exacerbate inequality, and (3) location data are a key part of the extension of the surveillance state.
Highlights
It is a strange feeling when something you have been researching for almost a decade suddenly becomes a part of the public conversation
That happened to the two of us when discussions of COVID-19 started intersecting with mobile phone location data
We have studied mobile phone location data since we were doctoral students, and we have argued that institutions should be more transparent about how much location data they collect (Evans & Saker, 2017; Frith, 2015)
Summary
It is a strange feeling when something you have been researching for almost a decade suddenly becomes a part of the public conversation. Within a few weeks of the virus’ spread in the United States, discussions of location data were everywhere; visualizations of mobility practices became a recurring feature of media outlets, and governments began discussing the use of location data to track the mobility of infected people. This essay argues location data’s 15 minutes of public fame is a potential opportunity to raise attention about locational privacy issues that were present long before COVID-19.
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