As Linda pointed out, there is little value in doing this study, but I'll explain why it is a bit more anonymous than you think. First, the database is spread across multiple vendors, never all in one place. Second, it is transient. Data can be discarded after a month or two. Third, it needs only track a location history, with no relationship to any subscriber identification. There is still a privacy risk, but not much greater than the existing privacy risk. Assuming that it can be done at all (which I still question), this has the organizational benefit that it would be policy to not collect identifying information when gathering location. At present, the policy is open.

I do have doubts about it's feasibility. Most of the electronics that I have seen uses RAKE transceivers. These do not internally track distance or angle information. They only track phase shift and frequency shift correlation numbers. The correlation numbers need never leave the transceiver. Pulling this numbers out to get more detailed information than cell tower is not fast or easy. They are rapidly changing, and converting them into angle and distance is subject to a lot of ambiguity. I could see it being reasonable if I had already identified a particular target to track,e.g., e911, but not as a general practice. Easiest is tapping into GPS equiped cell phones.