RSG113: Morgan Herlocker on Mobility Data and Privacy Concerns

In this episode, I’m covering some interesting topics with an expert on privacy and data issues. Specifically, we’re going to talk about privacy in its relation to transit – scooters, rideshare, etc. We’ll also talk about the potential concerns and uses of data when it comes to transportation.

If you’d like to read a transcript of this podcast, please click here.

Intro

  • Today I’ll be chatting with Morgan Herlocker of Shared Streets, a nonprofit that creates open source software that makes it easier to share info with the public
  • Talking about privacy and data issues related to mobility
  • Eye-opening conversation for me – not a lot of people are familiar with data privacy and rideshare – Morgan is a great guest for this topic!
  • Interested in learning more about driver satisfaction with Uber and Lyft? Make sure to check out our annual Uber driver survey results!
  • Main product right now is our survey – learn more about it at our consulting page

Intro to Morgan Herlocker

  • Morgan Herlocker is a software engineer and researcher focused on map data and privacy
  • Shared Streets, a nonprofit that creates open source software that makes it easier to share information on street networks with the public
  • In his spare time, he looks for privacy vulnerabilities and helps cities patch them
  • His preferred mode of transportation: skateboarding!

Open Source + Collaboration

  • Believes that if people have more information, we can all move more efficiently as a society
  • Became interested in maps and worked on software related to mapping
  • Mapping should be open source – no one entity should ‘own’ a map

Shared Streets

  • Builds tools that allow people to share information about their street networks and make it interoperable between base maps
  • For example, if a government has info on parking spaces in their city, this could be shared with base maps
  • Funding is mixed – public and private

Privacy Issues with Open Source Data

  • So much open source data out there – we need to be careful with what we share nowadays
  • Currently interested in information about scooters
  • Data suggests your trip data is very unique to you – only takes 4 GPS locations to uniquely identify riders
  • Some cities and companies can handle managing this data – but not all, which is alarming, since some are not as well-equipped to handle this data
  • Anonymization is critical – making sure data is anonymous and not based on the ‘honor code’

Uber & LA Compliance

  • Uber should comply, but it’s important to get the security right
  • Why does LA need real-time location data that isn’t aggregated in anyway?
  • CA has a law to protect their residents’ electronic privacy
  • Anyone handling this data should have basic training on trip privacy, what types of info should be protected
  • Huge responsibility to collect data – legislative framework needs to catch up to this issue

Outro

  • Thanks to Morgan for coming on the podcast! Fascinating information about data privacy, definitely eye-opening
  • Not something many people think about when they’re agreeing to terms to use scooters, rideshare, etc. but it’s important to pay attention to
  • Don’t forget to check out our annual driver survey!

Show Notes