Via FourSquare Blog on Medium:
The dataset is very compelling — over six years of data about the places people go every day — including more than 7 billion check-ins at over 65 million places. We have an additional level of insight through our Pilgrim technology, which gives us information beyond active check-ins. Using background location awareness, we’re able to accurately “snap-to-place” phones that stop for five minutes or more at one of these 65 million places. We can triangulate not only from GPS signals, but also all the nearby Wi-Fi access points, and Bluetooth beacons as well.
I love location data. Foursquare’s ability to quantify Apple Store traffic for the past 6 years using a database of 7 billion check-ins at 65 million unique locations is just amazing.