Uber Technologies Inc. has quietly launched a new service that gives public health officials access to data on drivers and riders who have come into contact with someone infected with COVID-19.

According to Reuters today, the new service includes a website page for the exclusive use of public health departments, which can sort information based on names and trip receipts.

Where a match is found, health authorities can then advise Uber of appropriate action, such as temporarily blocking a driver or a rider from the service because of COVID-19 contagion fears. Riders with confirmed infections are automatically banned from using Uber for at least 14 days.

Health authorities are also given information on a rider or driver that they can use to reach those potentially infected to urge them to quarantine.

The service has been available for several months but is now being made available to government health officials in all countries where Uber operates. Reuters noted that despite the data being available in the U.S. for some time, most states were not currently using it to trace possible COVID-19 cases.

Contact tracing is the process in which officials identify others who may have been exposed to the virus through contact with someone who has tested positive, then either have them self-isolate or quarantine, along with testing them for the virus to slow community spread. Contact tracing has been rolled out at a national level across various countries with varying success, since it requires a critical mass of users to work along with adequate technology.

In some cases, such as with Australia, the contract tracing app is regarded to be a failure because of technical issues related to automatic tracking, whereas in Asia the programs have been more successful. Both Google LLC and Apple Inc. have their own contract tracing software that has been adopted in places such as the U.K.

Contact tracing hasn’t been embraced widely yet in the U.S., however, and given current contagion rates it could be arguably too late to implement to make a serious difference. Uber’s offering of data at least provides some possible assistance, albeit small, in attempting to slow the spread of the virus.

Photo: Uber