NTL Record

Title Advancing Data Utility While Mitigating Privacy Risk [fact sheet]
Record ID 81372
Personal Name
Contributor
Gold, Ariel
Corporate Creator United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
Publisher United States. Federal Highway Administration
Publication Date 20210200
Language English
Abstract Transportation safety and mobility applications rely on time-sequenced location data. However, there is a risk of unauthorized parties using such data to discover an individual’s travel patterns. To prevent this from happening, organizations often limit data releases. But these limitations often cause unintended consequences, including reducing open sharing of transportation data and the associated benefits, such as improved safety and operational efficiency. Moreover, simply deleting identifiers such as names and addresses from the data does not eliminate the possibility that drivers’ identities could be inferred from their travel patterns. There is a better way. The U.S. Department of Transportation has developed a method to limit risk of traveler identification using a combination of map data and information theory. The result is context-specific strategies for hiding sensitive location and route information. This approach preserves precise location data characteristics that are necessary for effective safety and mobility applications. However, it removes the risk of the data unintentionally revealing any individual’s travel patterns – protecting personal privacy. Moreover, it maintains high-quality data capable of supporting improved transportation operations and planning.
Rosap ID dot:56616
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/56616
TRT Terms Privacy; Data collection; Transportation safety; Context sensitive design; Traffic control centers; Mobility applications; Connected vehicles
Geographical
Coverage
United States
Report Number FHWA-JPO-18-630
Resource type Booklet/Pamphlet
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/81000/81300/81372/FHWA-JPO-18-630.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository