US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data

Re:US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone lo... by joshdance on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @07:46PM (#17087379)

I agree some of this is happening but some things don't add up.

Is there a huge delay in this data? Because why don't law agencies use it to find criminals? Like I have 2 crimes at these two locations. Who was around these 2 locations at these times etc.

But if hedge funds are trading on it, they need very low latencies?

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Re:US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone lo... by reverend_gonzo on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @07:51PM (#17087409)

> But if hedge funds are trading on it, they need very low latencies?

Not quite. Hedge funds aren't trading real time on this data. They use this data to essentially figure out how a business is doing before they announce that information. Essentially, if x% of our data went to Chipotle in 2016 and y% went in 2017, and y >> x, then we expect Chipotle's earnings to be higher.

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Re:US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone lo... by nlowell on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @09:24PM (#17087913)

You might be confusing hedge funds in general with the strategy of high frequency trading. Not all funds trade at high frequency.

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Re:US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone lo... by Jill_the_Pill on Friday May 18, 2018 @11:04AM (#17102025)

Law agencies are using it, with some controversy:

https://www.wral.com/Raleigh-police-search-google-location-h...

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