At a time when the legal framework for data transfers to the United States is wavering, the issue of digital sovereignty is becoming urgent. This context highlights a strategic challenge: how to produce, use and protect sensitive data independently? Since its creation, Kiomda has offered a concrete response to this problem, with local, anonymous and sovereign mobility data.
Digital sovereignty is no longer a political posture: it is an operational requirement. With the weakening of the Data Privacy Framework — the latest agreement to date authorizing the transfer of personal data to the United States —, the legal foundations of a large part of the European digital economy are faltering.
Last warning signal: Donald Trump forced three members of the committee responsible for this framework (the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board) to resign, calling into question the independence of the body supposed to protect European citizens' data from the American intelligence services.
If the DPF falls, organizations that rely on American cloud infrastructures will find themselves in a gray or even illegal zone. This context highlights a simple reality: without data control, there is no strategic autonomy — including in areas as concrete as mobility.
This is why Kiomda has made the choice, since its creation, to offer a clear alternative: attendance data collected locally, processed in France and hosted in Germany, and strictly anonymous. An approach consistent with contemporary issues, which this article explores through concrete cases.
Thanks to digital technologies, the collection and exploitation of mobility data have taken on an unprecedented scale. They include geographic information, transit times, modes of transport and travel patterns. Every day, millions of queries use this data, often in real time.
Three major trends are transforming mobility:
• The rise of data and analysis tools (sensors, AI, cloud) promoting optimized multimodal transport.
• The multiplication of private services (Google Transit, Navitia, BlaBlaCar) influencing travel choices.
• Open data and collaborative platforms, making the user an actor in their mobility (e.g. OpenStreetMap).
The analysis of these flows makes it possible to optimize infrastructures, promote sustainable alternatives and improve the user experience.
In the context of land use planning, mobility data makes it possible to analyze trips in order to optimize transport infrastructures, develop more sustainable modes of travel and improve the user experience.
The production and exploitation of mobility data is now a competitive market with strategic scope: the collection and use of mobility data by companies raise crucial questions in terms of privacy protection, digital sovereignty and cybersecurity.
Authorities rely on mobility data to streamline traffic, adjust schedules and develop their infrastructures. They are also essential to the ecological transition: by identifying traffic areas, they make it possible to develop service offers, and regulate the footprint of visitors on their environment.
Lake Mande, in the heart of Lozère, plays a double role: a drinking water reservoir and a tourist site. The Community of Municipalities, the ARS and the State needed precise monitoring of attendance to anticipate developments and adjust the management of the site.
“Lac de Mande is both a drinking water reservoir and a tourist site. With several possible accesses, the mobile box is particularly suitable. This data will help us decide whether to install one or more cottages around the lake so that walkers can find a café, without overdeveloping the space.”
Mobility data is a strategic resource coveted by many economic players. Major technology companies like Google, Apple, Uber and Tesla are investing heavily in collecting and exploiting this information to develop intelligent transport services and position themselves as key players in this field.
This situation raises the question of digital sovereignty. Access to mobility data by foreign companies can give them a competitive advantage at the expense of national actors. Thus, initiatives are being put in place to promote sovereign data management, such as encouraging the use of French and European platforms. The European Network Internet Security Directive, known as NIS 2, implemented in 2024, should make it possible to better secure the data of European administrations and companies by strengthening their cybersecurity, in particular by using servers installed on the European continent.
Despite the rise of data from smartphones and applications, physical sensors remain essential to obtain a reliable picture of real flows. Mobile data is biased in certain areas: tourist sites, natural areas, city centers where not everyone uses an active application.
Anonymous sensors offer an alternative that respects privacy while guaranteeing optimized management of public spaces. Unlike intrusive technologies, they allow communities to analyze attendance without collecting personal data.
As part of a study conducted from April 2022 to October 2023, the PETR Pays de Remiremont et ses Vallées used Kiomda meters to analyze the attendance of several vulnerable natural sites. The objective was to quantify overcrowding and to support decisions for the implementation of adapted regulatory solutions, such as shuttles.
“The counters were an essential tool in the study. They made it possible to compare attendance data with observations on the condition of soils and trees to assess environmental pressure. Thanks to the figures collected, we were able to obtain funding for the establishment of shuttles and specific arrangements.”
Public actors have a key role to play in managing mobility data to avoid excessive dependence on major digital platforms. A large part of the information on mobility is captured by private actors who derive strategic and economic benefits from it. It is therefore becoming essential for communities to keep control of their own data, in order to be able to use it independently.
The municipality wanted to monitor the use of soft mobility and vehicles on strategic bike lanes and streets to assess the impact of developments.
“Residents were complaining that the greenway might not be useful. Attendance monitoring makes it possible to demonstrate its usefulness. On the bike path, the box records more than 200 passages per day, whereas I expected 30-40.”
For users of transport networks, the most important issue concerning mobility data is the protection of citizens' privacy. This data includes information such as geolocation, trips taken and transport habits which, if not anonymized, makes it possible to identify individual behaviors and to track people's movements. While this technological development offers additional opportunities to ensure the safety of citizens, it also poses a risk in case of abusive or widespread use.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in force since 2018, imposes strict rules to govern the collection and processing of this information in the European Union. Mobility actors who collect personal data must ensure transparency, obtain the consent of users and ensure the anonymization of data when shared or analyzed.
Despite these regulations, questions remain about the effectiveness of protection measures and the ability of users to truly control the use of their data. Since mobility data is often stored in digital infrastructures, it is exposed to the risks of cyberattacks. This storage on remote servers raises the question of the security of this infrastructure. A security breach could compromise critical systems such as traffic management or public transport.
Mobility data is a strategic resource for improving transport, improving traffic flow and accelerating the ecological transition. However, they must be used rigorously and transparently, guaranteeing:
• A neutral collection that is representative of real uses
• Local data sovereignty to avoid dependence on digital giants
• Rigorous protection of citizens' privacy
With the right strategies and the right tools, mobility data can become a powerful lever for building smarter, sustainable and accessible territories for all.
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