How Google reports help policymakers fight Covid
The world’s most popular search engine is making use of the data it collects from users to help policymakers deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The anonymised location data from users helps Google provide information to Google Maps users on traffic conditions or on the times at which a store or restaurant may be less crowded than others. The same data has been used to look at movement trends across different countries. It helps policy makers decide on how effective their lockdown might be and what changes they may need to make to help mitigate the spread of the disease.
“As global communities respond to Covid-19, we’ve heard from public health officials that the same type of aggregated, anonymised insights we use in products such as Google Maps could be helpful as they make critical decisions to combat Covid-19,” said a note on its website.
What kind of information might be available in these reports?
It provides the percentage change in visits to given categories of location compared to a baseline. This provides an indication of how far movement has dropped. For example, there was a significant increase in the proportion of people staying at home after the lockdown was announced. There was a similar drop in workplace visits.
Which are the categories covered?
The report currently covers visits to retail and recreation spots, grocery and pharmacy stores, parks and transit stations; besides residential and workplace visits. Visits to each of these is compared to what it was on a median basis for the same day during the five-week period between January 3 and February 6, 2020. This is seen as a period when the world had a degree of ‘normalcy’.
What is frequency and geographical coverage of the data?
Google launched the reports with coverage of 131 countries. It now covers 135 countries. It provides more granularity in a lot of countries. For example, In India, there is now data for individual states. There is of county-level data for the United States of America which is information for regions within a state. The data released on a given day covers the past two or three days. The latest report has data till June 27.
What about privacy?
The report does not look to track individuals. It relies on aggregated and anonymised information to generate the trend on visits. Google said in a note on its reports that no personally identifiable information, such as their location, contacts or movement; is ever made available.
How can the information help authorities?
Google says that information on visits to local businesses can help set business hours more effectively. A lot of crowding at transit stations can indicate the need for more buses or trains. “Ultimately, understanding not only whether people are traveling, but also trends in destinations, can help officials design guidance to protect public health and essential needs of communities,” said the note.