Google Shakes Up Status Quo With Quake Detector
Google has a plan to use the sensors in Android phones for a worldwide earthquake detection network, and it’s legitimately the best smartphone news is in a long time.
The search giant announced Tuesday that product managers will work with the United States Geological Survey and the state of California to integrate smartphone data to study earthquakes.
In an era dumbed down by bogus privacy concerns, the news is welcomed.
A decade ago, the promise of smartphones, sensors and software sparked a maker boom. Developers began using the cameras, accelerometers and global positioning systems found on mobile devices to build applications that changed the way we work and live.
For example, Americans in 2010 snapped about 300 billion pictures. It seems like a lot, but in only a decade later we are taking 2.5 trillion snaps. We don’t drive to Walmart (NYSE: WMT, Rated “B”) and have them printed on Kodak (NYSE: KODK, Rated “C-”) paper.
We store them digitally on Facebook (Nasdaq: FB, Rated “B-”) and Instagram where they can be shared instantly with family and friends, for free.
And Google Maps can now accurately track location, decipher local transit systems and even help users hail an Uber all over the world. The software is so smart that it can figure how long your morning commute is going to take by aggregating real-time location data from millions of Androids and iPhones. It means never getting lost or being late, regardless where you travel in the world.
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We tend to take these valuable services for granted. But transformative products are under attack. Detractors have successfully conflated their ad-based business models with lost privacy.
That’s why the Google earthquake detection system is so refreshing. Like Maps, the free-to-use system will aggregate data from millions of Android phones, then use machine learning to perfect algorithms that make sense of tiny movements detected by smartphone accelerometers.
It’s the kind of big, disruptive idea that gets frowned upon these days.
Initially, the phones will rely on seismometer data supplied by ShakeAlert system, a network of infrastructure already deployed in California. However, the second and third stages of the project will use the algorithms to turn Android devices into a living network of mobile seismometers.
Marc Stogaitis, principle Android software engineer, says the sensors onboard most modern devices are capable of detecting both the primary and secondary waves of earthquakes. The former is subtle and often goes undetected by humans. The secondary wave, however, can be much larger and do a considerable amount of damage.
The first goal is to have a system that can process varying types of signals while not overwhelming cell tower infrastructure with millions of needless alerts.
Eventually, the service will roll out globally as an API, a bit of code that third-party developers can use it as a building block to bring detection to other networks.
For example, the Verge notes that a signal from a smartphone might cause network-connected elevators to automatically stop and open the doors at the next floor in the event the phone detects a strong enough seismic wave. Another signal might divert aircraft from the affected area, or slow trains.
There is still plenty of work to do. Stogaitis is careful to note that the data collected from Androids will be de-identified and users will have to opt-in to participate in the project or to get the alerts.
These automatic privacy disclaimers are a pre-requisite in this era.
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It should be stated that ad-based business models do not impinge on privacy. When users sign up for Facebook, Instagram or Google Maps, they’re agreeing to view ads to offset the costs of developing and running the service. Personal data is never sold to marketers. That’s not how advertising works, even in the digital era. The value of the service to vendors is maintaining anonymity.
And make no mistake, these businesses are valuable, both to the vendors and end users.
An MIT economics study in 2019 determined the productivity value of Google Maps amounted to a staggering $3,500 per active user in the United States, per year.
Watching a few ads is a small price to pay for transformative software.
Investors should use weakness to build core positions in Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL, Rated “B-”), the parent company of Google.
Best wishes,
Jon D. Markman
