In the UK, the National Security Center, aka “SitCen”, a government body, has entered into a contract with Spanish telecommunications corporation Telefonica, with the goal of using mobile data to gain “insights” into a fairly broad range of behaviors of people. And that's millions of people. A third of the UK's population, in fact – if the telecom is to be believed.
The agreement refers to allowing the big data-hungry SitCen access to information on Telefonica’s O2 Motion Data & Insights service in the UK – and is set to last six months.
During that time, SitCen – established last year as a centralized Cabinet Office-run place for emergency response – and O2 will work together to turn data taken from users’ phones into “insights” regarding their movement (location), mobility patterns (mode of transport), as well as behavior and demographics-related information.
This data will be both real-time, and anonymized, those behind the new scheme are promising.
The UK taxpayers, the same ones whose personal data will be feeding this program, will also be dishing out £803,500 (currently just under $900K) for the six month of the deal...
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