Google has published a report to show how well the coronavirus lockdown guidelines are being applied around the world. Covering 131 countries, the results reveal that lockdowns have already severely disrupted people's lifestyles in many countries, resulting in a significant drop in visits to shops, public transport and parks. Google is making its data available to public health officials for a limited time to help them fight the pandemic and prevent it from spreading further, but the online giant has already come under fire for potential invasions of privacy.
mobility data
Google claims to have followed strict privacy policies when collecting data, stating that no personally identifiable information such as a person's location, contacts, or movements will be available to anyone. Instead, anonymous data was collected from smartphones where users have activated location and history tracking features. Google reports show a comparison of traffic during five weeks of lockdown between February 16 and March 29. They cover various public places, including the subway, public transit stations, parks, supermarkets, and workplaces compared to the corresponding day and time over a five-week period in January.
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(Image credit: Google) The report highlights that countries hardest hit by the pandemic, including Italy, the UK, Spain and Germany, have seen a significant drop in visits to places like restaurants and cinemas. Retail and leisure stores in Italy and Spain saw a 94% drop in attendance, while 85% of Britons did not visit these locations during closed hours. The number of visits to supermarkets and pharmacies in Italy decreased by 85% and by 76% in Spain. Public transport stations also experienced a significant drop in traffic in all of these countries. Visits to parks and pharmacies have also dropped considerably, but the numbers vary depending on the severity of the crisis in the country. As most public transport is closed in these countries and the police force ensures that citizens do not leave, visits to the workplace have also decreased. With most employers having moved to a remote work environment, the increase in visits to residential establishments also highlights this. The figures for Japan and the United States reveal a relatively relaxed environment. while government officials and agencies urge people to maintain social distance. Visits to retail stores, entertainment and transit stations have been cut in half in the United States, although only minor impacts are seen on visits to parks, supermarkets and pharmacies. Social media giant Facebook is said to have shared data with researchers and a similar report has been released to help government agencies, but no data has yet been released. It is reported that worldwide, more than one million people are infected with Covid-19 and that has already killed more than 52,000 people. Information based on location data can be very useful for governments in their fight against the virus. Although the government Agencies are also trying to alert people, based on their location data, to possible close contact with patients who are positive for Covid-19, privacy activists believe these measures can be invasive and compromise privacy.
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Via: Google