w/ The New York Times R&D Lab
OpenPaths is a secure data locker for personal location information.
We inhabit a world where data are being collected about us on a massive scale. These data are monetized by corporations and monitored by the state—the people whom the data actually purport to represent have little agency to use it for their own purposes. What if instead individuals could be conscious collaborators in public health, environmental justice, or urban planning initiatives?
OpenPaths demonstrates an alternative implementation of data infrastructure. Using the OpenPaths mobile app you can track your location, visualize where you’ve been, and download your data in a variety of friendly data formats. You can keep your location history to yourself, or you can share it with specific research initiatives, art projects, or educational programs as you so choose. Your data is always encrypted on the OpenPaths servers, and cannot be accessed by anyone, including systems admins, without your express consent.