Big data reveals socio-economic differences in phone use

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-12-01 11:01

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The apps on your phone may reveal your socio-economic status, according to European data-scientists. Researchers have used privacy-protected mobile-phone data from France to map differences in mobile phone usage across different neighbourhoods. According to the study, people living in high-income areas with more education tend to use their phones to access ‘traditional’ news media outlets, while people in low-income areas with less education use social media and video streaming platforms more frequently. Researchers suggest that their study could be useful in combating the spread of misinformation through social media in low-income communities, and believe that their methods could help keep population data more up-to-date as cities change.