We probably don’t know it, but most of us stick with the “don’t stray far from home” idea for the rest of our lives. According to a study released by Northeastern University, most people rarely go far away from home.

The study was performed on 100,000 subjects outside the United States, whose movement habits have been tracked though cell phone records provided by an undisclosed carrier. Most people were found to oscillate between very few locations, on a few miles radius from their home.

Furthermore, statistics have shown that three quarters of the subjects moved within a 20-mile radius for half a year. Almost 3 percent of the people went beyond a 200-mile radius, and less than 1 percent moved within a 621-mile radius.

Researchers believe in the accuracy of the data obtained from cell phone tracking, much more than in other methods of tracking, such as monetary flows, saying people are more likely to take their cell phone with them wherever they go and hold on to them.

This study in particular stands for more than just analyzing human mobility, researchers said, adding that the methods used could be the premise for urban planning, traffic forecasting and the spread of biological and mobile viruses.

However, the study is overshadowed by privacy issues. Such a nonconsensual monitoring action, which this time was carried outside the U.S., would be illegal, Rob Kenny, Federal Communications Commission spokesman said, according to the Associated Press.

While the authors of the study say there shouldn’t be any privacy issues involved, most people disagree with the idea of being watched.

Paul Stephens, policy director at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse told the AP that the study raises the Big Brother issue: people don’t like being watched without their consent.

However, Cesar A. Hidalgo, researcher at the Center for Complex Network Research and Department of Physics and Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame and co-author of the study, argued that the data obtained is in perfect safety in scientists’ hands.