We used data collected from voluntary users' phone logs as our phone number data set. This means that if Joe called number X a few weeks ago and then decided to participate in our study, number X was in our database. We then used a couple techniques too see how well we could identify who number X belonged to.
We didn't put together actual profiles of users, though that is a possible next step. However, I think it is clear that putting together profiles of users is possible given how easy it is to identify who you are calling and receiving calls from.
Comments
The reporting on our work has been of mixed quality. Check out our actual blog-post here: http://webpolicy.org/2013/12/23/metaphone-the-nsas-got-your-... for more accurate details.
We used data collected from voluntary users' phone logs as our phone number data set. This means that if Joe called number X a few weeks ago and then decided to participate in our study, number X was in our database. We then used a couple techniques too see how well we could identify who number X belonged to.
We didn't put together actual profiles of users, though that is a possible next step. However, I think it is clear that putting together profiles of users is possible given how easy it is to identify who you are calling and receiving calls from.