Privacy-Preserving Mobility Data Sharing

The Rise of Micromobility and Data Privacy Concerns

The proliferation of electric scooters and bikes on city streets across the United States has been a notable trend in recent years.

Market Growth and Data Generation

The e-scooter market is projected to exceed $40 billion in value by 2025. American citizens have completed over 342 million trips utilizing shared bikes and e-scooters since 2010.

The Value and Sensitivity of Mobility Data

Micromobility services accumulate substantial amounts of data related to movement, including precise location information about individual users. This data offers valuable insights for transportation planning and infrastructure development.

However, the exchange of sensitive mobility data – whether between companies or with governmental bodies – requires careful consideration of privacy and the maintenance of public trust.

Productive Uses of Mobility Data

Innovative transportation options are offering cities solutions to the “last-mile” problem. The data generated by these services has a wide range of beneficial applications.

For instance, city planners can leverage this data to design safer transportation infrastructure, such as dedicated bike lanes. Community groups and government officials gain the ability to monitor device distribution in real-time, enabling effective enforcement of usage limits.

Streamlining City Operations

Access to mobility data can also improve communication between companies and city governments. This facilitates quicker adaptation to events and emergencies within urban environments.

Privacy Concerns and Legal Challenges

Despite the benefits, legitimate privacy concerns exist regarding the detailed and extensive data collected by digitally-enabled mobility services and its potential sharing with government entities.

A recent legal challenge in Los Angeles alleges that the city’s collection of e-scooter trip data, adhering to the Mobility Data Specification, infringes upon Fourth Amendment rights and the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

Although initially dismissed, the lawsuit is currently under review by a federal appeals court, following appeals from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU of Northern and Southern California.

Legislative Efforts to Protect Privacy

A bill introduced in the California Legislature proposes specific requirements before mobility data can be shared with public agencies. Data sharing would be limited to transportation planning or user safety, and trip data would need to be at least 24 hours old.

The Sensitivity of Location Data

While near-real-time location data is often necessary for safety and regulatory purposes, it is highly sensitive. It has the potential to reveal intimate details about an individual’s life, including habits, relationships, and religious affiliations.

Although attempts can be made to “de-identify” location data, achieving true anonymity for precise location histories is exceptionally difficult. Even aggregated data can inadvertently expose sensitive information.

The Strava Heat Map Incident

In 2017, a “global heat map” generated by the Strava fitness app unintentionally revealed the locations of deployed military personnel in classified areas, demonstrating the risks associated with even de-identified location data.

Proactive Measures and the MDSA

Local governments and mobility companies are actively addressing user privacy concerns. The Future of Privacy Forum, in collaboration with SAE’s Mobility Data Collaborative, has developed a transportation-focused privacy assessment tool.

Introducing the Mobility Data Sharing Assessment

The Mobility Data Sharing Assessment (MDSA) provides operational guidance for organizations seeking to share mobility data in a privacy-conscious manner. It enables both public and private sector entities to conduct thorough legal and privacy reviews of their data-sharing processes.

By utilizing the MDSA, organizations can integrate privacy and equity considerations into the design of mobility data-sharing agreements.

The Goal of Responsible Data Sharing

The MDSA aims to facilitate responsible data sharing that safeguards individual privacy, respects community interests, and promotes transparency. It offers an open-source, customizable framework to reduce barriers to data sharing.

Future Development of the MDSA

This initial version of the MDSA focuses on ground-based mobility devices and location data. Future iterations may incorporate guidance regarding images and video collected by mobility devices, as many e-scooters are now equipped with on-board cameras.

The tool’s open-source and customizable nature allows organizations to adapt it to address the specific risks and benefits of sharing sensor or camera data.

Maximizing Benefits and Long-Term Infrastructure

Micromobility services have the potential to improve access to essential services like jobs, food, and healthcare. However, companies and government agencies must carefully consider factors such as data precision, immediacy, and type before sharing mobility data.

A thoughtful and structured assessment of these factors, including potential biases, is crucial. This approach will maximize the benefits of these services in the short term and support the development of robust infrastructure for the future, ultimately enhancing safety and speed of movement within cities.