Quantifying mobility of mobile devices via a privacy preserving mobility metric
Embodiments of the invention generate metrics quantifying the mobility of a mobile device without persisting information related to the device's specific location at any given time. Specifically, at multiple intervals, a value of a mobility metric is computed based on the distance between the current location of the mobile device and a previously identified origin location of the mobile device. The values of the mobility metric computed over a period of time quantify the overall mobility of the mobile device. The mobility metric does not provide any information regarding the specific location of the mobile device at any given time.
1. A method for quantifying the mobility of a mobile device without transmitting the device's location, the method comprising:
determining an origin location of the mobile device;
determining a location of the mobile device at each of a plurality of points in time;
computing values of a mobility metric based on the distances between the origin location and the determined locations of the mobile device at the plurality of points in time, wherein computing a first value of the mobility metric comprises selecting from an index of values an index value that maps to the distance between the origin location and the location of the mobile device at a first point in time, the value of the mobility metric being equal to the index value; and
transmitting the values of the mobility metric for storage.
2. A method for quantifying the mobility of a mobile device without transmitting the device's location, the method comprising:
determining an origin location of the mobile device;
determining a location of the mobile device at each of a plurality of points in time;
computing values of a mobility metric based on the distances between the origin location and the determined locations of the mobile device at the plurality of points in time, wherein computing a first value of the mobility metric comprises identifying from an index of classifications a classifications that maps to the distance between the origin location and the location of the mobile device at a first point in time, the value of the mobility metric being indicative of the classification; and
transmitting the values of the mobility metric for storage.
3. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium executing computer program instructions for quantifying the mobility of a mobile device without transmitting the device's location, the computer program instructions comprising instructions for:
determining an origin location of the mobile device;
determining a location of the mobile device at each of a plurality of points in time;
computing values of a mobility metric based on the distances between the origin location and the determined locations of the mobile device at the plurality of points in time, wherein computing a first value of the mobility metric comprises selecting from an index of values an index value that maps to the distance between the origin location and the location of the mobile device at a first point in time, the value of the mobility metric being equal to the index value; and
transmitting the values of the mobility metric for storage.
4. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium executing computer program instructions for quantifying the mobility of a mobile device without transmitting the device's location, the computer program instructions comprising instructions for:
determining an origin location of the mobile device;
determining a location of the mobile device at each of a plurality of points in time;
computing values of a mobility metric based on the distances between the origin location and the determined locations of the mobile device at the plurality of points in time, wherein computing a first value of the mobility metric comprises identifying from an index of classifications a classification that maps to the distance between the origin location and the location of the mobile device at a first point in time, the value of the mobility metric being indicative of the classification; and
transmitting the values of the mobility metric for storage.
5. A method for analyzing the mobility of a group of mobile devices, the method comprising:
receiving mobility metrics associated with the group of mobile devices, for each mobile device the associated mobility metric indicating an average distance traversed by the mobile device relative to an origin location over a time period;
processing the mobility metrics associated with the group of mobile devices to generate group metrics indicating a mobility of the group of mobile devices, wherein processing comprises identifying one or more mobility classifications for the group of mobile devices, each of the mobile devices being part of at least one of the one or more classifications; and
generating a report including the mobility metrics associated with the group of mobile devices and the group metrics.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein processing the mobility metrics further comprises: identifying distinguishing characteristics associated with a subset of the group of mobile devices that is part of a first classification that are different from characteristics associated with a different subset of the group.