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.
1. A method comprising:
providing instructions to each mobile device in a cohort, the cohort comprising a plurality of mobile devices each having a first characteristic, the instructions comprising instructions for:
determining, at a mobile device, a delta distance between an origin location and a determined location at a point in time;
computing, at the mobile device, a mobility metric based on the delta distance; and
transmitting, from the mobile device to a server system, the mobility metric;
receiving, at a server system, a plurality of mobility metrics from the plurality of mobile devices of the cohort;
generating, at the server system, an aggregate mobility metric for the cohort based on the plurality of mobility metrics; and
sending customized content to a first mobile device having the first characteristic, the customized content customized based at least in part on the aggregate mobility metric.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device operating an application.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device operating an operating system.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device type.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobility metric does not provide information regarding the determined location of the mobile device.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the location of the mobile device comprises requesting coordinates from a global positioning system included in the mobile device.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobility metric is selected from an index of values.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobility metric is selected from an index of classifications.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
providing instructions to each mobile device in a cohort, the cohort comprising a plurality of mobile devices each having a first characteristic, the instructions comprising instructions for:
determining, at a mobile device, a delta distance between an origin location and a determined location at a point in time;
computing, at the mobile device, a mobility metric based on the delta distance; and
transmitting, from the mobile device to a server system, the mobility metric;
receiving, at a server system, a plurality of mobility metrics from the plurality of mobile devices of the cohort;
generating, at the server system, an aggregate mobility metric for the cohort based on the plurality of mobility metrics; and
sending customized content to a first mobile device having the first characteristic, the customized content customized based at least in part on the aggregate mobility metric.
10. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device operating an application.
11. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device operating an operating system.
12. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device type.
13. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the mobility metric does not provide information regarding the determined location of the mobile device.
14. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the mobility metric is selected from an index of values.
15. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the mobility metric is selected from an index of classifications.
16. System comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
providing instructions to each mobile device in a cohort, the cohort comprising a plurality of mobile devices each having a first characteristic, the instructions comprising instructions for:
determining, at a mobile device, a delta distance between an origin location and a determined location at a point in time;
computing, at the mobile device, a mobility metric based on the delta distance; and
transmitting, from the mobile device to a server system, the mobility metric;
receiving, at a server system, a plurality of mobility metrics from the plurality of mobile devices of the cohort;
generating, at the server system, an aggregate mobility metric for the cohort based on the plurality of mobility metrics; and
sending customized content to a first mobile device having the first characteristic, the customized content customized based at least in part on the aggregate mobility metric.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device operating an application.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device operating an operating system.
19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the characteristic corresponds to a mobile device type.
20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the mobility metric does not provide information regarding the determined location of the mobile device.
21. The system of claim 16 , wherein the mobility metric is selected from an index of values.
22. The system of claim 16 , wherein the mobility metric is selected from an index of classifications.