Places I've Never Been (but my phone thinks I have)

video 2016

Places I've Never Been (but my phone thinks I have)

Places I've Never Been mines four years worth of personal location data to generate a locative data portrait of my movements and activities that highlights glitches and anomalies in location information reported from my mobile phone.

Since 2011 I have recorded and tracked the locations that my phone reports it has been. I say reports because while this data is on the most part reasonably accurate it contains anomalies. Major anomalies. In fact it sporadically reports my location in places I've never been. Countries I've never visited, cities I've never explored, country lanes that I've never had the pleasure of, as well as streets, avenues and buildings that are new to me.

At a time when our data shadows provide a portrait in data that describes and defines our digital existence, not to mention providing locational evidence in court, what do these glitches mean and in what way can they highlight and problematise the ubiquitous data collection regimes that define our digital everyday.

 

 

Places I've Never Been image

Places I've Never Been image

Places I've Never Been image

Places I've Never Been image

Places I've Never Been image

 

 

 

Conor McGarrigle 2023