Scientists say it is remarkably easy to identify a mobile phone user from just a few pieces of location information. Whenever a phone is switched on, its connection to the network means its position and movement can be plotted. This data is given anonymously to third parties, both to drive services for the user and to target advertisements. But a study in Scientific Reports warns that human mobility patterns are so predictable it is possible to identify a user from only four data points. [1]

We are all living in the same world. And we are all unique. But what we cannot easily see, is how similar or close we are to each other. We walk next to each other. Going on our way along with crouds of fellow co-workers. What “separates” us from them are only four points in a cellular phone grid, holding true to what Pythagoras maintains about the power of the number 10 lying in the number 4 – the tetractys (Greek τετρακτύς) (Aetius 1.3.8) [2].

Ancient wisdom, re-discovered…