It’s totally useless for tracking “contacts with terrorists”, especially compared to phone records or chat metadata.
Location data is far more valuable for a surveillance state, and it is already recorded in several places, including servers that are easier to get to (legally) than your phone.
There’s an argument for it being more useful than location data. If you are actively watching a target you do not need their location. But what is useful are the ability to track the movements of their social network, who they interact with, etc.
But you can't identify anyone in the social network, because the identifiers you get aren't tied to any individual unless the individual chooses to reveal them.
So unless you're tracking a terrorist and their social network comes down with Coronavirus and you subpoena the hospital they were tested at for records, you aren't able to tie the IDs to individuals.
Exactly. This is better than many existing surveillance because you are now using other people as sensors and the meta data is higher than ever before.
X and Y were connected to the same tower at 12:52... vs X and Y were feet from each other and Z who we didn’t even know about from 12:50.430 to 12:55.001
Location data is far more valuable for a surveillance state, and it is already recorded in several places, including servers that are easier to get to (legally) than your phone.