Patent Watch: Tracking People Via Cell without Compromising Privacy

Jeremy Wood introduced readers to his method "for tracking cellphones to generate useful demographically-keyed data on the movement of people, without compromising anyone's privacy" back in 2009. Today his patent was granted; it's number 8185131. Will applications that use this methodology be more attractive to potential users? Will the data collected be valuable to marketers and others? 

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GPS Tracking Contest and other GIS Competitions

An group of companies including Deloitte, Deutsche Telecom, HYVE and The RWTH-TIM Research Group have banded together......to hold a contest with prizes worth more than $10,000, inviting people to use their imagination and present their wildest and best ideas for tracking anything—people, animals or objects of any size. The goal is to come up with new state-of-the-art, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications solutions.

Entries due: April 10.

- Ideabird via Sat News

The European Earth Monitoring Competition GMES Masters takes place on an annual basis and calls for new ideas and services making the best use of earth observation data from Europe's flagship program on Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). Initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Bavarian Ministry of Economy, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and T-Systems and supported by the European Commission and European Space Imaging GmbH, the GMES Masters 2012 will call for submissions between 1 June and 16 September 2012 in six categories.

This year there's a new challenge centered on the use of new applications for very high-resolution satellite imagery.

- press release

GISCI reminds GIS folks:

Everywhere I’ve Been: Data Portraits Powered by 3.5 years of data and 2.5 million GPS Points

Everywhere I’ve Been: Data Portraits Powered by 3.5 years of data and 2.5 million GPS Points is the title of a post by Aaron Parecki Geoloqi co-founder. It's written in part to keep up the buzz from SXSW, but it's pretty interesting and includes both the why and the how of the data collection. The maps remind me of an exercise I did in college where we mapped our routes and where we were for two full weeks on 4' x 6' paper maps. The results are pretty much the same: we all follow some regular patterns that define what I like to call an "orbit." (Credit for that term goes to reader Larry.)

GeoCoda Steps Up to Take On SimpleGeo Clients and other LBS News

Geocoda is launching to provide a replacement to the SimpleGeo service, which is being terminated on March 30, 2012. Geocoda aims to provide many of the services previously offered by SimpleGeo, with a simple migration path.

For now you can just sign up for info; the services are not yet ready.

- GeoCoda

With today's announcement, Preserve is launching a free iPhone app that allows anyone to find the nearest #5 collection area to drop off their plastics, and earn Recyclebank points for their earth efforts.

I'm glad my city does recycle #5 plastic. I'd hate to have to separate it out and drop it separately. On the other hand, we continue to add to the number of unique "find the nearest" sort of tools.

- press release

Stats NZ received anonymized data on the movements of mobile phones that were active in Christchurch city in the run up to February 22. By tracking the location of the unique IDs linked to where voice calls and text messages were sent, researchers were then able to pinpoint where these people went in the wake of the quake, how far from the city they travelled – and when they came back.

An undisclosed number of mobile phone users were tracked ...

and some patterns discovered. It's not clear how this information can help with future emergency planning, but collecting it is a start.

- National Business Review

Pinwheel offers Virtual Notes on the Landscape and other LBS News

Flickr and Hunch co-founder, Caterina Fake, has launched a new online venture called Pinwheel where users can leave virtual notes pinned on a map. This location-based startup idea is still currently in invite-only private beta mode, but has already generated a lot of buzz online. 

The potential difference between this and all the others just like it? Big name behind it.

- PSFK

Geoloqi, a powerful platform for next-generation location based services, officially launches today along with its language agnostic SDK for iOS and Android, and proprietary API. Geoloqi offers a complete stack of geolocation tools, including geo-fencing, messaging, security and analytics, that empowers the enterprise, government and developers to unlock the full potential of real-time location-based services and easily layer geolocation onto any device or application.

- press release

SpatialMatch.com, an overlay technology that can be embedded on an agent's website or perhaps on an entire multiple listing service, enables buyers to pursue properties using any number of lifestyle criteria. That's over and above the usual number of bedrooms and bathrooms and price, the benchmarks on which most people base their searches. ...

At CheckYourLandlord.com, potential renters can guard against dealing with shaky "accidental" landlords who turn to renting because they can't sell their underwater properties. Even though the owners are collecting rent, they sometimes can't keep up with their house payments and lose their properties to foreclosure.

For free, a renter can limit his or her risk by using the website to search databases to determine whether any notices of default have been filed against the property. Of course, there's no guarantee that the landlord won't run into financial difficulty after the place is rented. But at least you'll be warned before you sign a lease if he's already in trouble.

For $28 you can learn if the landlord owns the property, has filed for bankruptcy or other off-putting circumstances.

- LA Times

A recent ruling on GPS tracking has prompted the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to turn off about 3,000 tracking devices, says FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann. The Supreme Court ruling on US v. Jones, which found that placing a GPS tracker without a warrant constituted an illegal search, has apparently caused a "sea change" in the Bureau, leading it to draft broader guidelines for both GPS device use and related questions regarding the right to privacy.

- The Verge