Washington State Patrol is Using Your Cellphone Data to Find Speeders

Ever feel like your phone knows a little too much about you? Well, if you’ve been speeding through Washington state, that feeling is not paranoia, it is a real thing and actually happening.

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The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is rolling out a data-driven approach to cracking down on speeders, and they are using cellphone data to do it. They bought data from over 1 million cellphone users in 2023 and used it to identify the high-risk areas for dangerous driving behavior.

Washington Police are Not Quite Spying Like Big Brother, But Almost

Before you freak out, no, they’re not watching you in real-time, and the data isn’t linked to any individual drivers. The data was anonymized and then collected with the new partnership with Michelin Mobility Intelligence (yes, the tire guys).

The information shows where and when people in cars were speeding, braking hard, texting, or talking on their phones. It can not tell if the “driver” was using the phone or not, so some of the data could be off for categories besides speeding and braking hard.

"This is so exciting to be using data that we haven't had access to before,” said Shelly Baldwin, acting director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. “This is predictive as opposed to reflective.”

That means instead of just reacting to crashes and incidents, WSP can now focus its efforts where the risk is highest before accidents happen.

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Washington Locations of the Phone Data Crackdown

Over the next six weeks, Washington State patrols will be increased in four high-speed areas.

• I-5 from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to Fife
• I-5 from Fife to Auburn
• I-5 near Everett (north and south)
• A 14-mile stretch on I-90 in Spokane

These spots lit up in the data as chronic speeding zones that showed up for Washington State.

Are you okay with devices feeding into law enforcement strategies, even if the data is anonymized? I am fine with it, but what about you?

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