ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Malte Spitz - Politician, data activist
Malte Spitz asked his cell phone carrier what it knew about him -- and mapped what he found out.

Why you should listen

German Green Party politician Malte Spitz is an expert on digital change and privacy.

In 2009, Spitz went to court to obtain the information that his cell phone operator, Deutsche Telekom, gathered (and kept) about his activity. The results astonished him. Over the course of six months, they had tracked his geographical location and what he was doing with his phone more than 35,000 times. Working with the German online news site Zeit Online, an infographic was created that shows Spitz's activity across an interactive timeline, combined DT's geolocation data with information relating to his life as a politician, such as Twitter feeds, blog entries and website. By pushing the play button, viewers can set off on a detail-rich trip through six months of his life. And more, because he keeps asking the telecom company for his most recent data.

Spitz is the author of the book What Are You Doing with My Data? and has contributed to international publications, such as the New York Times and The Guardian. Spitz lives with his wife and two kids in Berlin.

More profile about the speaker
Malte Spitz | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2012

Malte Spitz: Your phone company is watching

Malte Spitz: Dit telefonselskab overvåger dig

Filmed:
1,712,454 views

Hvilken slags data samler ens telefonselskab? Malte Spitz var ikke for bekymret da han bad sin operatør i Tyskland om at dele den information de gemte om ham. Adskillige ubesvarede anmodninger og en retssag senere, modtog Spitz 35.830 linjer med kode -- en detaljeret, næsten minut for minut beretning over et halvt år af hans liv.
- Politician, data activist
Malte Spitz asked his cell phone carrier what it knew about him -- and mapped what he found out. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
HiHej. This is my mobilemobil phonetelefon.
0
990
7545
Hej. Dette er min mobiltelefon.
00:24
A mobilemobil phonetelefon can changelave om your life,
1
8535
7443
En mobiltelefon kan ændre ens liv,
00:31
and a mobilemobil phonetelefon givesgiver you individualindividuel freedomfrihed.
2
15978
8832
og en mobiltelefon giver en individuel frihed.
00:40
With a mobilemobil phonetelefon,
3
24810
2368
Med en mobiltelefon,
00:43
you can shootskyde a crimeforbrydelse againstmod humanitymenneskelighed in SyriaSyrien.
4
27178
4784
kan man tage et billede af forbrydelser mod menneskeheden i Syrien.
00:47
With a mobilemobil phonetelefon,
5
31962
1952
Med en mobiltelefon,
00:49
you can tweettweet a messagebesked
6
33914
2288
kan man tweete en besked
00:52
and startStart a protestprotest in EgyptEgypten.
7
36202
5843
og begynde at protestere i Egypten.
00:57
And with a mobilemobil phonetelefon,
8
42045
2477
Og med en mobiltelefon,
01:00
you can recordoptage a songsang, loadbelastning it up to
9
44522
2921
man kan optage en sang, oploade det til
01:03
SoundCloudSoundCloud and becomeblive famousberømt.
10
47443
2481
SoundCloud og blive berømt.
01:05
All this is possiblemuligt with your mobilemobil phonetelefon.
11
49924
4570
Alt dette er muligt med ens mobiltelefon.
01:10
I'm a childbarn of 1984,
12
54494
2049
Jeg er et barn af 1984,
01:12
and I livelevende in the cityby of BerlinBerlin.
13
56543
3361
og jeg bor i byen Berlin.
01:15
Let's go back to that time, to this cityby.
14
59904
5680
Lad os gå tilbage til den tid, til denne by.
01:21
Here you can see
15
65584
1239
Her kan man se
01:22
how hundredshundreder of thousandstusinder of people
16
66823
2184
hvordan hundredetusinde mennesker
01:24
stoodstod up and protestedprotesterede for changelave om.
17
69007
4239
gør modstand og protesterer for forandring.
01:29
This is autumnefterår 1989,
18
73246
3186
Dette er efteråret 1989,
01:32
and imagineforestille that all those people standingstående up
19
76432
4623
og forestil jer alle disse mennesker der gør oprør
01:36
and protestingprotesterer for changelave om had a
20
81055
2809
og protesterer for en forandring havde en
01:39
mobilemobil phonetelefon in theirderes pocketlomme.
21
83864
3160
mobiltelefon i deres lomme.
01:42
Who in the roomværelse has a mobilemobil phonetelefon with you?
22
87024
1727
Hvem i lokalet har en mobiltelefon med sig?
01:44
HoldHold it up.
23
88751
1135
Hold den op.
01:45
HoldHold your phonestelefoner up, holdholde your phonestelefoner up!
24
89886
3129
Hold jeres telefon oppe, hold jeres telefon oppe!
01:48
HoldHold it up. An AndroidAndroid, a BlackberryBlackBerry, wowwow.
25
93015
2726
Hold den op. En Android, en Blackberry, wow.
01:51
That's a lot. AlmostNæsten everybodyalle todayi dag has a mobilemobil phonetelefon.
26
95741
6393
Det er mange. Næsten alle i dag har en mobiltelefon.
01:58
But todayi dag I will talk about me and my mobilemobil phonetelefon,
27
102134
4552
Men i dag vil jeg tale om mig og min mobiltelefon,
02:02
and how it changedændret my life.
28
106686
3517
og hvordan den ændrede mit liv.
02:06
And I will talk about this.
29
110203
3580
Og jeg vil tale om dette.
02:09
These are 35,830 lineslinjer of informationinformation.
30
113783
5103
Der er 35.830 linjer med information.
02:14
Raw datadata.
31
118886
2763
Rå data.
02:17
And why are these informationsinformationer there?
32
121649
4626
Og hvorfor er disse informationer der?
02:22
Because in the summersommer of 2006,
33
126275
2981
Fordi i sommeren 2006,
02:25
the E.U. CommissionKommissionen tabledstillet a directivedirektiv.
34
129256
3487
fremlagde EU Kommisionen et direktiv.
02:28
This directivedirektiv [is] calledhedder DataData RetentionFastholdelse DirectiveDirektiv.
35
132743
4665
Dette direktiv hedder Data Retention Directive.
02:33
This directivedirektiv sayssiger that eachhver phonetelefon companySelskab in EuropeEuropa,
36
137408
4359
Direktivet siger at hvert telefon selskab i Europa,
02:37
eachhver InternetInternet serviceservice companySelskab all over EuropeEuropa,
37
141767
4497
hver Internet udbyder i hele Europa,
02:42
has to storebutik a widebred rangerækkevidde of informationinformation about the usersbrugere.
38
146264
5279
skal gemme en bred mængde information om brugerne.
02:47
Who callsopkald whomhvem? Who sendssender whomhvem an emaile-mail?
39
151543
3161
Hvem ringer til hvem? Hvem sender en email til hvem?
02:50
Who sendssender whomhvem a texttekst messagebesked?
40
154704
2144
Hvem sender en sms til hvem?
02:52
And if you use your mobilemobil phonetelefon, where you are.
41
156848
4335
Og hvis man bruger ens mobiltelefon, hvor man er.
02:57
All this informationinformation is storedgemt for at leastmindst sixseks monthsmåneder,
42
161183
4452
Al denne information gemmes i minimum seks måneder,
03:01
up to two yearsflere år by your phonetelefon companySelskab
43
165635
3284
op til to år af ens telefon selskab
03:04
or your InternetInternet serviceservice providerudbyder.
44
168919
6072
eller ens Internet udbyder.
03:10
And all over EuropeEuropa, people stoodstod up and said,
45
174991
3660
Og overalt i Europa, demonstrerede folk og sagde,
03:14
"We don't want this."
46
178651
2507
"Vi vil ikke have dette."
03:17
They said, we don't want this datadata retentionfastholdelse.
47
181158
3398
De sagde, vi vil ikke have denne databevaring.
03:20
We want self-determinationselvbestemmelse in the digitaldigital agealder,
48
184556
3537
Vi vil have selvbestemmelse i den digitale alder,
03:23
and we don't want that phonetelefon companiesvirksomheder and InternetInternet companiesvirksomheder
49
188093
2999
og vi vil ikke have at telefon selskaberne og internet udbyderne
03:26
have to storebutik all this informationinformation about us.
50
191092
3449
skal gemme al denne information om os.
03:30
They were lawyersadvokater, journalistsjournalister, priestspræster,
51
194541
2683
De var advokater, journalister, præster,
03:33
they all said: "We don't want this."
52
197224
3156
de sagde alle: "Vi vil ikke have dette."
03:36
And here you can see, like 10 thousandstusinder of people
53
200380
3067
Og her kan man se, noget i retningen af titusindevis af mennesker
03:39
wentgik out on the streetsgader of BerlinBerlin and said,
54
203447
2656
der gik på gaden i Berlin og sagde,
03:42
"FreedomFrihed, not fearfrygt."
55
206103
3207
"Frihed, ikke frygt."
03:45
And some even said, this would be StasiStasi 2.0.
56
209310
4449
Og nogen sagde endda, at dette ville blive Stasi 2.0.
03:49
StasiStasi was the secrethemmelighed policepoliti in EastØst GermanyTyskland.
57
213759
6037
Stasi var det hemmelige politi i Østtyskland.
03:55
And I alsoogså askSpørg myselfMig selv, does it really work?
58
219796
4481
Og jeg spørger også mig selv, virker det virkelig?
04:00
Can they really storebutik all this informationinformation about us?
59
224277
3432
Kan de virkelig gemme al denne information om os?
04:03
EveryHver time I use my mobilemobil phonetelefon?
60
227709
3630
Hver gang jeg bruger min mobiltelefon?
04:07
So I askedspurgt my phonetelefon companySelskab, DeutscheDeutsche TelekomTelekom,
61
231354
3756
Så jeg spurgte mit telefonselskab, Deutsche Telekom,
04:11
whichhvilken was at that time the largeststørste phonetelefon companySelskab in GermanyTyskland,
62
235110
3765
der på det tidspunkt var det største telefonselskab i Tyskland,
04:14
and I askedspurgt them, please,
63
238875
1396
og jeg spurgte dem, vær sød at
04:16
sendsende me all the informationinformation you have storedgemt about me.
64
240271
4356
sende mig al den information I har gemt om mig.
04:20
And I askedspurgt them onceenkelt gang, and I askedspurgt them again,
65
244642
2159
Og jeg bad dem om det en gang, og jeg bad dem om det igen,
04:22
and I got no realægte answersvar. It was only blahblah blahblah answerssvar.
66
246801
3176
og jeg fik ikke noget rigtigt svar. Det var kun blah blah svar.
04:25
But then I said, I want to have this informationinformation,
67
249977
3112
Men så sagde jeg, jeg vil have denne information,
04:28
because this is my life you are protocolingprotocoling.
68
253089
4752
fordi dette er mit liv I fører protokol over.
04:33
So I decidedbesluttede to startStart a lawsuitretssag againstmod them,
69
257841
3992
Så jeg besluttede at starte en retssag mod dem,
04:37
because I wanted to have this informationinformation.
70
261833
2960
fordi jeg ville have denne information.
04:40
But DeutscheDeutsche TelekomTelekom said, no,
71
264793
2000
Men Deutsche Telekom sagde, nej,
04:42
we will not give you this informationinformation.
72
266793
2752
vi vil ikke give dig denne information.
04:45
So at the endende, I had a settlementafregning with them.
73
269545
4217
Så i sidste ende, lavede jeg et forlig med dem.
04:49
I'll put down the lawsuitretssag
74
273762
1359
Jeg stopper retssagen
04:51
and they will sendsende me all the informationinformation I askSpørg for.
75
275121
3208
og de sender mig al den information jeg spørger efter.
04:54
Because in the mean time,
76
278329
1217
Fordi i mellemtiden,
04:55
the Germantysk ConstitutionalForfatningsmæssige CourtRetten ruledregerede
77
279546
2237
havde Tysklands Forfatningsdomstol afsagt en kendelse
04:57
that the implementationimplementering of this E.U. directivedirektiv
78
281783
3817
at implementationen af dette EU direktiv
05:01
into Germantysk lawlov was unconstitutionalforfatningsstridig.
79
285600
4419
i tysk lovgivning var forfatningsstridig.
05:05
So I got this uglygrim brownBrun envelopekuvert
80
290019
2118
Så jeg fik denne grimme, brune konvolut
05:08
with a C.D. insideinde.
81
292137
2568
med en CD indeni.
05:10
And on the C.D., this was on.
82
294705
3080
Og på den CD, var der dette.
05:13
Thirty-fiveTredive-fem thousandtusind eightotte hundredhundrede thirtytredive lineslinjer of informationinformation.
83
297785
5361
Femogtredive tusinde otte hundrede og tredive linjer med information.
05:19
At first I saw it, and I said, okay,
84
303146
2415
Først kiggede jeg på det og sagde, okay,
05:21
it's a hugekæmpe stor filefil. Okay.
85
305561
3403
det er en kæmpe fil. Okay.
05:24
But then after a while I realizedgik op for,
86
308964
2517
Men så efter noget tid blev jeg klar over,
05:27
this is my life.
87
311481
2288
dette er mit liv.
05:29
This is sixseks monthsmåneder of my life,
88
313769
1784
Dette er seks måneder af mit liv,
05:31
into this filefil.
89
315553
4298
i denne fil.
05:35
So I was a little bitbit skepticalskeptisk, what should I do with it?
90
319851
4250
Så jeg var en smule skeptisk, hvad skulle jeg gøre med det?
05:40
Because you can see where I am,
91
324101
3179
Fordi man kan se hvor jeg er,
05:43
where I sleepsøvn at night,
92
327280
2208
hvor jeg sover om natten,
05:45
what I am doing.
93
329488
4704
hvad jeg laver.
05:50
But then I said, I want to go out with this informationinformation.
94
334192
4593
Men så sagde jeg, jeg vil ud med denne information.
05:54
I want to make them publicoffentlig.
95
338785
1776
Jeg vil gøre dem offentlige.
05:56
Because I want to showat vise the people what does datadata retentionfastholdelse mean.
96
340561
4414
Fordi jeg vil vise mennesker hvad dette data bevaring betyder.
06:00
So togethersammen with ZeitZeit OnlineOnline and OpenÅben DataData CityCity, I did this.
97
344975
5264
Så sammen med Zeit Online og Open Data City, gjorde jeg dette.
06:06
This is a visualizationvisualisering of sixseks monthsmåneder of my life.
98
350239
4128
Dette er en visualisering af seks måneder af mit liv.
06:10
You can zoomzoom in and zoomzoom out,
99
354367
1888
Man kan zoome ind og ud,
06:12
you can windvind back and fasthurtig forwardfrem.
100
356255
2449
man kan spole tilbage og spole frem.
06:14
You can see everyhver steptrin I take.
101
358704
3418
Man kan se hvert skridt jeg tager.
06:18
And you can even see
102
362122
2325
Og man kan endda se
06:20
how I go from FrankfurtFrankfurt by traintog
103
364447
3049
hvordan jeg tager toget fra Frankfurt
06:23
to CologneKöln, and how oftentit I call in betweenmellem.
104
367496
4232
til Cologne, og hvor tit jeg ringer ind i mellem.
06:27
All this is possiblemuligt with this informationinformation.
105
371728
4733
Alt dette er muligt med denne information.
06:32
That's a little bitbit scaryskræmmende.
106
376461
5455
Det er en lille smule uhyggeligt.
06:37
But it is not only about me.
107
381916
5500
Men det handler ikke kun om mig.
06:43
It's about all of us.
108
387416
2400
Det handler om os allesammen.
06:45
First, it's only like, I call my wifekone and she callsopkald me,
109
389816
4724
For det første, det er kun ligesom, jeg ringer til min kone og hun ringer til mig,
06:50
and we talk to eachhver other a couplepar of timesgange.
110
394540
2671
og vi snakker med hinanden et par gange.
06:53
And then there are some friendsvenner callingringer me,
111
397211
2462
Og så er der nogle venner der ringer til mig,
06:55
and they call eachhver other.
112
399673
1928
og de ringer til hinanden.
06:57
And after a while you are callingringer you,
113
401601
2119
Og efter et stykke tid ringer man til sig selv,
06:59
and you are callingringer you, and you have this great
114
403720
2264
og man ringer til sig selv, og man har dette store
07:01
communicationmeddelelse networknetværk.
115
405984
2424
kommunikations netværk.
07:04
But you can see how your people are communicatingkommunikere with eachhver other,
116
408408
4481
Men man kan se hvordan ens folk kommunikerer med hinanden,
07:08
what timesgange they call eachhver other, when they go to bedseng.
117
412889
3303
hvilke tidspunkter de ringer til hinanden, hvornår de går i seng.
07:12
You can see all of this.
118
416192
2154
Man kan se alt dette.
07:14
You can see the hubshubs, like who are the leadersledere in the groupgruppe.
119
418346
4015
Man kan se midtpunkterne, ligesom hvem der er lederne i en gruppe.
07:18
If you have accessadgang to this informationinformation,
120
422361
3480
Hvis man har adgang til denne information,
07:21
you can see what your societysamfund is doing.
121
425841
3847
kan man se hvad ens samfund laver.
07:25
If you have accessadgang to this informationinformation,
122
429688
2625
Hvis man har adgang til denne information,
07:28
you can controlkontrollere your societysamfund.
123
432313
4417
kan man kontrollere ens samfund.
07:32
This is a blueprinthandleplanen for countrieslande like ChinaKina and IranIran.
124
436730
4976
Dette er en arbejdstegning for lande som Kina og Iran.
07:37
This is a blueprinthandleplanen how to surveyundersøgelse your societysamfund,
125
441706
4168
Dette er en arbejdstegning for hvordan man skal overvåge ens samfund,
07:41
because you know who talksforedrag to whomhvem,
126
445874
2616
fordi man ved hvem der taler med hvem,
07:44
who sendssender whomhvem an emaile-mail, all this is possiblemuligt
127
448490
2881
hvem der sender hvem en email, alt dette er muligt
07:47
if you have accessadgang to this informationinformation.
128
451371
2698
hvis man har adgang til denne information.
07:49
And this informationinformation is storedgemt for at leastmindst sixseks monthsmåneder
129
454069
3037
Og denne information er gemt i minimum seks måneder
07:53
in EuropeEuropa, up to two yearsflere år.
130
457106
4987
i Europa, op til to år.
07:57
Like I said at the beginningstarten,
131
462093
1615
Ligesom jeg sagde i starten,
07:59
imagineforestille that all those people on the streetsgader of BerlinBerlin
132
463708
3433
forestil jer at alle disse mennesker på gaderne i Berlin
08:03
in autumnefterår of 1989
133
467141
2448
i efteråret 1989
08:05
had a mobilemobil phonetelefon in theirderes pocketlomme.
134
469589
3023
havde en mobiltelefon i deres lomme.
08:08
And the StasiStasi would have knownkendt who tooktog parten del at this protestprotest,
135
472612
3969
Og Stasi ville have vist hvem der tog del i denne demonstration,
08:12
and if the StasiStasi would have knownkendt
136
476581
1687
og hvis Stasi havde vidst det
08:14
who are the leadersledere behindbag it,
137
478268
3494
hvem der er lederne bag det,
08:17
this maykan never have happenedskete.
138
481762
3221
ville dette måske aldrig være sket.
08:20
The fallefterår of the BerlinBerlin WallVæg would maybe not [have been] there.
139
484983
3031
Berlinmurens fald ville måske ikke [have været] der.
08:23
And in the aftermathkølvandet, alsoogså not the fallefterår of the IronJern CurtainGardin.
140
488014
3616
Og i efterspillet, heller ikke faldet af jerntæppet.
08:27
Because todayi dag, statestat agenciesagenturer and companiesvirksomheder
141
491630
4608
Fordi i dag, statsorganer og firmaer
08:32
want to storebutik as much informationinformation as they can get about us,
142
496238
4289
vil gemme så meget information som de kan få om os,
08:36
onlineonline and offlineoffline.
143
500527
1880
online og offline.
08:38
They want to have the possibilitymulighed to trackspore our livesliv,
144
502407
4207
De vil have muligheden for at følge vores liv,
08:42
and they want to storebutik them for all time.
145
506614
3848
og de vil gemme dem i al evighed.
08:46
But self-determinationselvbestemmelse and livinglevende in the digitaldigital agealder
146
510462
4443
Men selvbestemmelse og det at leve i den digitale alder
08:50
is no contradictionmodsigelse.
147
514905
2697
er ikke modsætninger.
08:53
But you have to fightkæmpe for your self-determinationselvbestemmelse todayi dag.
148
517602
5159
Men man skal kæmpe for selvbestemmelse i dag.
08:58
You have to fightkæmpe for it everyhver day.
149
522761
4027
Man skal kæmpe for det hver dag.
09:02
So, when you go home,
150
526788
2762
Så, når man går hjem,
09:05
tell your friendsvenner
151
529550
1656
fortæl jeres venner
09:07
that privacybeskyttelse af personlige oplysninger is a valueværdi of the 21stst centuryårhundrede,
152
531206
4311
at privatlivet er en værdi i det 21 århundrede,
09:11
and it's not outdatedforældede.
153
535517
2520
og det er ikke umoderne.
09:13
When you go home, tell your representativerepræsentant
154
538037
4066
Når I går hjem, fortæl jeres repræsentant
09:18
only because companiesvirksomheder and statestat agenciesagenturer have the possibilitymulighed
155
542103
4479
at bare fordi firmaer og statsorganer har muligheden
09:22
to storebutik certainbestemte informationinformation, they don't have to do it.
156
546582
5416
for at gemme bestemte informationer, behøver de ikke at gøre det.
09:27
And if you don't believe me,
157
551998
2345
Og hvis I ikke tror på mig,
09:30
askSpørg your phonetelefon companySelskab what informationinformation they storebutik about you.
158
554343
7623
spørg jeres telefonselskab hvilken information de gemmer om jer.
09:37
So, in the futurefremtid, everyhver time you use your mobilemobil phonetelefon,
159
561966
6860
Så, i fremtiden, hver gang I bruger jeres mobiltelefon,
09:44
let it be a reminderpåmindelse to you
160
568826
3072
lad det være en påmindelse til jer
09:47
that you have to fightkæmpe for self-determinationselvbestemmelse in the digitaldigital agealder.
161
571898
3767
at man skal kæmpe for selvbestemmelse i den digitale alder.
09:51
Thank you.
162
575665
1225
Tak.
09:52
(ApplauseBifald)
163
576890
3148
(Bifald)

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Malte Spitz - Politician, data activist
Malte Spitz asked his cell phone carrier what it knew about him -- and mapped what he found out.

Why you should listen

German Green Party politician Malte Spitz is an expert on digital change and privacy.

In 2009, Spitz went to court to obtain the information that his cell phone operator, Deutsche Telekom, gathered (and kept) about his activity. The results astonished him. Over the course of six months, they had tracked his geographical location and what he was doing with his phone more than 35,000 times. Working with the German online news site Zeit Online, an infographic was created that shows Spitz's activity across an interactive timeline, combined DT's geolocation data with information relating to his life as a politician, such as Twitter feeds, blog entries and website. By pushing the play button, viewers can set off on a detail-rich trip through six months of his life. And more, because he keeps asking the telecom company for his most recent data.

Spitz is the author of the book What Are You Doing with My Data? and has contributed to international publications, such as the New York Times and The Guardian. Spitz lives with his wife and two kids in Berlin.

More profile about the speaker
Malte Spitz | Speaker | TED.com