You probably don't need device-level location data

Kjartan Slette · Co-founder, Pine59

Before buying location data, ask one simple question:

“What are you actually trying to answer?”

These are questions about places and populations, not individual devices.

And if that's what you're trying to understand, you probably don't need device-level location data.

More granular doesn't mean better

There are absolutely use cases where device-level data is necessary. If you need to distinguish individual devices or analyze movement at that level, aggregated data may not give you what you need.

But for many business questions, you're ultimately trying to turn millions of individual observations into statistics.

So why not start with the statistics?

That's often the answer you wanted in the first place.

The data you receive becomes your responsibility

There's another reason to think carefully about granularity.

Receiving device-level location data means taking responsibility for storing, securing, governing and using it. It can also bring additional privacy and regulatory considerations.

And regulation is moving in one direction: more scrutiny of data associated with individuals and devices.

If your business question can be answered without receiving that data, why take on the additional complexity?

That's why we built Pine59 differently

Pine59 builds its products from first-party location data that is aggregated at the source before it reaches us.

Neither Pine59 nor our customers receive the underlying device-level location data.

Instead, we provide Aggregated Location Intelligence about Places, Areas and Ways that customers can use to understand foot traffic, trade areas, demographics, mobility, roads and population movement.

For us, this isn't just about privacy. It's a product philosophy:

“Do the complicated work upstream and give customers the intelligence they actually need.”

So perhaps the question when choosing location data shouldn't be: What's the most data I can get?

It should be: What's the least amount of data I need to reliably answer my question?

If you genuinely need device-level data, use it.

But if you're trying to understand places and populations, you probably don't.

Let's build!