U.S. cities over the past year have seen a steady influx of dockless e-bikes and scooters, as companies like Bird, Lime, Spin and even rideshare pioneers such as Uber and Lyft have joined the micromobility industry. For this reason, cities have started crafting policies and licensing programs to accommodate such services, aimed at balancing civic concerns over public space and safety. Individual privacy is at stake here, as data usage by some micromobility programs come under question.
Data Usage and Re-identification
For micromobility companies, data can be used in a number of ways including,
- Managing vehicle parking and monitoring the fleet
- Enforcing program rules such as limits on the number of vehicles and their service areas
- Planning for infrastructural investments such as the creation of bike lanes or designated parking areas
- Understanding the role of micromobility in the overall transportation system.
Even though regulations for such dockless ebike, bike and scooter services are still evolving; it is clear that accurate data would be an integral part of any regulatory program.
Recent research found that certain types of anonymous location data used by micro mobility companies can be combined with other data sources to re-identify or clarify the information. However, the risk posed by innocuous information increases, as more data flows into cities. The question of what they request and how they should go about protecting it becomes crucial at this stage.
The Level of Risk Involved
There is a certain amount of risk associated with some mobility data, particularly those which contain personally identifiable information. It becomes very easy for someone to access your travel logs, retrace your movements, and learn other details about your life to intrude in a number of ways.
On the other hand, aggregated data poses the least amount of private risk. Summary reports usually comprise of information related to the number of trips taken between neighborhoods on any given day. There is no identifiable personal information in this case if the report is developed after combining several data points from many individuals.
Data from bike and scooter usage are similar to data received by city administrations from taxi fleet operators. In fact, data from dockless services are considered less sensitive than those of taxi trips.
It should be noted however that unlinked trip data can still leak out information related to individuals if it is carefully analyzed.
Protection of Privacy
Because of the importance of detailed information in the administration of ebike and scooters, asking cities to forgo their data and analysis is an unrealistic idea. However, there are certain steps that can be taken to manage privacy risk:
- Transparency in Data Usage: The main reason behind collecting and using such data should be properly communicated to the public beforehand. As part of their licensing requirements, operators should be instructed by the administration to clearly inform their users about how they share their data.
- Following good information security practices: Trip data is sensitive and should be treated as such. Companies should take appropriate measures to protect such information from data breaches and hackers.
- Requesting Data and Handling it: For cities, it becomes crucial to consider the ways in which they intend to use it. They also should be careful while releasing individual data.
Looking Ahead
Personal mobility of any kind increasingly generates data and is not restricted to only ebikes and scooters. This information is valuable for governments to manage public streets and provide proper oversight for privately operated services. There are three approaches that can aid in managing privacy risks, such as:
- Creating legal protection for mobility data
- Getting a trusted third party organization to store and manage the data
- Using data science to reduce such risk
Thus, even though cities should be mindful of risk, the use of micro mobility data should be embraced for effective management of bike and scooter services.
