On Labor Day weekend in 2010, a series of wildfires broke out in and around Austin. Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes. Power sources and phone lines had flatlined, and no one could call 911. Wireless services remained intact, however, and to keep each other informed, residents inundated Facebook and Twitter with updates, discussions, and tips.

Though harrowing for many, for Brandon Burris, the experience was an inspiration. Social media posts could be monitored and geo-located, Burris concluded, for the benefit of public safety organizations.  

Burris is the CTO of SnapTrends, a startup that collects location-based data from social media posts to reveal “trending” topics of discussion in a particular area, as well as time-sensitive, crucial updates. This information is processed and delivered to organizations, which can use it to improve their practices, develop initiatives, and respond to problems and concerns.

“The information gained from social posts can help officers gain live situational awareness without being on scene and even save lives, especially when other forms of communication may fail,” explained SVP of sales & marketing Jeff Croson. “During the Halloween 2013 floods in Austin, a family was rescued from their roof after posting on social media about being trapped and needing help because 911 phone lines where down.”

The data SnapTrends collects pertains to more than just public safety initiatives, Croson said. Businesses, for example, can gain insight into such areas as customer opinions, earnings releases, industry developments, and stocks. Similarly, the company promises that educators can track such threats as cyber-bullying and school violence to ensure a safer campus, or that medical professionals can monitor what doctors are discussing at a convention addressing public health.
 

In diplomatically vague terms, Croson named one use case in which a company discovered an inside bribe: “A major athletic gear manufacturer/retailer identified a relatively sophisticated operation whereby an individual was paying off employees to get access to and sell new products before they were launched to the public.”

But isn’t privacy a concern? Should individuals’ social media usage be tracked without their knowledge? While some might consider this an ethical gray area, Croson sees it in black and white. SnapTrends only monitors posts that the user has made publicly available, he said, and doesn’t have access to individuals’ “private information or conversations.”

“All of the information a customer obtains through SnapTrends is open, publicly-available information. Anyone can obtain it. SnapTrends is vigilant in insuring it follows the privacy policies of the social media networks integrated with the SnapTrends platform [Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and FourSquare],” he added.

Yet this raises another question: If a user doesn’t have location services enabled, but the company doesn’t have access to her private information, how is geo-location implemented? “If a user has location services disabled, through a number of proprietary algorithms, SnapTrends is able to provide a general idea of the location from which a user posted,” Croson said.

While he wouldn’t reveal funding numbers, Croson asserted that the two-and-a-half-year-old company is “profitable” and is growing “aggressively,” with plans to augment the sales, marketing, and support staffs – all part of a goal “to be the leading location-based social insights company worldwide in all sectors of the marketplace.”

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