Research Papers
Unique in the Crowd: The privacy bounds of human mobility
A study of how few location points may be needed to identify people in a mobility dataset.
Why it matters
Removing names is not the same as removing identity. A repeated sequence of places and times can be identifying when it is distinctive enough and can be compared with outside information.
Claim labels
FACT
The paper was published in Scientific Reports and is identified by DOI 10.1038/srep01376.
RESEARCHER ANALYSIS
The findings depend on the dataset, sampling and model used; they do not establish that every location dataset has the same re-identification risk.
Sources
Last link check: 2026-09-27. A link check confirms reachability, not that every claim has been independently reviewed.