Google LLC is harnessing the anonymized location data it collects about users for a new mapping tool that will enable public health officials battling the coronavirus to view movement trends across regions.

The tool, COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, came online today. The search giant envisions authorities using it for tasks such as tracking whether people abide by movement restrictions in areas hard-hit by the virus. 

COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports is publicly accessible and covers 131 countries on launch. The tool displays national-level data, as well as more granular information for a limited number of states, counties and provinces that Google plans to expand over time.

The search giant displays the degree to which traffic to locations such as parks and shopping centers has changed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. In New York state, for instance, COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports shows a 62% drop in visits to retail and recreation destinations from Feb. 16 to March 29. In France, the figure stands at 88%. 

The tool provides insight into movement trends across five additional location categories besides retail and recreation. These include groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces and residential buildings, with the data for the last showing how much more time people are spending at home.

Google isn’t displaying the movements of specific individuals whose location data is factored into reports. The company has taken a number of other privacy precautions as well, most notably taking care to collect data only from users who provide their consent. 

“The insights are created with aggregated, anonymized sets of data from users who have turned on the Location History setting, which is off by default,” detailed Google Chief Health Officer Karen DeSalvo and Jen Fitzpatrick, the head of the unit that manages Google Maps. “Users who have Location History turned on can choose to turn the setting off at any time from their Google Account, and can always delete Location History data directly from their Timeline.”

Public health bodies aren’t the only organizations that could potentially put the data to use. By way of example, DeSalvo and Fitzpatrick wrote that logistics companies could consult the information on consumers’ whereabouts to “inform delivery service offerings.”

Other tech firms are also making their users’ location records available to organizations involved in the global coronavirus response. Facebook Inc. is sharing information with a network of academic institutions that includes Harvard, Princeton and Johns Hopkins University, while the European Union is working with carriers to harness their data. In the U.S., the mobile ad industry is another source of location information authorities are reportedly drawing on in an effort to get a better understanding of people’s movements amid the pandemic.  

Photo: Google