This post at Pasta and Vinegar got me wondering. Some pizza delivery companies are starting to let you track the delivery of your pizza online, giving you up-to-date information on the location, and thus arrival time, of your pizza. I personally try not to think about the status of a pizza I ordered because it only reminds me I’m hungry. But what I want to get at is this: what about the pizza delivery boy? Is his location information not private information? Does your location fit into the “that’s obviously personal” category in the same way that your address, your dreams or your medical situation are? Clearly privacy is not a binary value, there are levels. On top of that it seems to be context dependent: maybe their location information is private, but not during working hours?

Are there any good comparisons to be made with other not-obviously-private information? I recently read that my IP address is personal information because, amongst other things, it can also be used to find out where I am, although not very well. Clicking that last link, I am told my location is The Hague. It’s not, but it’s close.

It reminds me of a tactic used by many companies dealing with private information: When they’re not allowed to store your personal data they store the nearest thing they are allowed to store. If a company may not store my exact address, they may still be allowed to store my zipcode. This blurry information should be enough to give them some juicy demographic statistics, but doesn’t lead back to me directly (and I’m equally powerless about them storing it, but that’s another issue).

Which brings us back to the pizza delivery boys. Isn’t it enough for me to know the distance of the pizza to my house? Why do I need to know the exact route they are taking? Come on Pizza boys, revolt!