Facebook is providing anonymous data about users’ movements and relationships to help researchers better anticipate where the coronavirus might spread.
The leading online social network is augmenting maps on “population movement” with tools to glean insights in ways that still protect people’s privacy, according to a post Monday by K.X. Jin, Facebook head of health, and Laura McGorman of its Data for Good arm.
“Hospitals are working to get the right resources, and public health systems are looking to put the right guidelines in place,” Jin and McGorman said. “To do that, they need better information on whether preventive measures are working and how the virus may spread.”
Google last week announced a similar move, saying it would provide a snapshot of users’ location data around the world to help governments gauge the effectiveness of social distancing measures implemented to stem the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tools that Facebook is providing for researchers include “co-location maps” to show probabilities of people in one specific place coming into contact with those in another, perhaps signaling where new COVID-19 cases might appear.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/04/07/business/tech/facebook-coronavirus/