[liberationtech] Why Metadata Matters

[Matt Johnson]

Griffen, your example is flawed. The data being reported by Verizon is
call duration, not how long someone is at a particular place. So
someone with that data could say that Jane made a call from 16th & L,
but not how she stayed there after the call ended.

--
Matt

On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 10:44 AM, Griffin Boyce <griffinboyce at gmail.com> wrote:
>   I see a lot of people wondering why metadata matters.  "But they
> don't know *what* you're doing there!"  So I'll give a short example
> to illustrate how metadata can be used to not only determine who
> someone is talking to, but also to invade their privacy and uncover
> the most intimate details of their life.
>
>   Jane is at 16th & L Street for an hour.
>   Carla is at 16th & L Street for four hours. She's had a short visit
> previously.
>   James is at 16th & L Street for twenty minutes. He comes back at the
> same time every week.
>   Kris is at 16th & L Street for ten hours.
>   Rick is at 16th & L Street for eight hours every night.
>   Samantha has been there for three days and four hours.
>
> 16th & L Street is the address of a Planned Parenthood in Washington, DC.
>
>   Jane is having a physical.
>   Carla is having an abortion.
>   James receives his medication there. By visit time, location, and
> frequency, he is likely a trans guy. If his appointments were every
> two weeks, the metadata would indicate that James is a trans woman.
>   Kris is protesting there.
>   Rick works in an office in the same building.
>   Samantha dropped her phone in the Farragut West Metro Station and
> has been looking for it ever since.
>
> And that's just location data. If one calls a physician every day,
> perhaps they have a major medical problem. If a crime happens on the
> other side of town, and you suddenly start calling attorneys... did
> you do it?  There are numerous explanations for either of those
> scenarios, but this kind of metadata in isolation can be used to tell
> almost any story you want.
>
> Stay safe out there.
>
> best,
> Griffin Boyce
>
> --
> Technical Program Associate, Open Technology Institute
> #Foucault / PGP: 0xAE792C97 / OTR: saint at jabber.ccc.de
> --
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