Facebook shares location data to help COVID-19 researchers
MENLO PARK, Calif. - Facebook has announced new tools to help researchers track social distancing and other efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Menlo Park-based social media company on Monday announced that through its Data for Good program, the new tools will include disease prevention maps to show how people are moving around in specific regions. The data aims to help with forecasting and protective efforts in the fight against the disease.
"Movement range trends show at a regional level whether people are staying near home or visiting many parts of town, which can provide insights into whether preventive measures are headed in the right direction,” the company said.
Facebook said the maps would help health officials get in front of the outbreak by idenitifying areas where spike in cases will likely occur.
As part of the new program, some Facebook users in the U.S. will also be invited to take part in a voluntary survey designed to help researchers “identify hotspots earlier.”
The survey was being led by Carnegie Mellon University's Delphi Research Center and used to help health care officials plan out COVID-19 response. Facebook said that information would be a useful tool in helping health systems plan were resources are needed most and potentially offer insight into future plans for lifting shelter in place orders in certain regions.
The company stressed that the privacy of its users would be protected and promised continued transparency in its data collection approach. Officials added that it was using aggregated data, not the patterns of individuals.
"Flattening the global COVID-19 curve is a challenge that takes all of us,” the company said. "As people distance themselves to protect their communities and healthcare workers save lives on the front lines, hospitals are working to get the right resources, and public health systems are looking to put the right guidelines in place. To do that, they need better information on whether preventive measures are working and how the virus may spread.”
Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, Facebook said it has partnered with dozens of health organizations and relief aid efforts in the U.S. and around the world to help with the response to the pandemic.
