What Facebook is doing with Safety Check data

Facebook’s Safety Check feature allows users to notify their family and friends that they’re okay following natural disasters or attacks that prompt Facebook to deploy the tool. But have you ever wondered what Facebook does with that information?

On Wednesday the social network announced that it will share some of that data with aid organizations — specifically UNICEF, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the World Food Programme — to make it easier for them to locate people who need help. More organizations and governments are now able to apply for access to this data.

The company rolled out Safety Check in 2014, inspired by Facebook users’ behavior after the 2011 tsunami and earthquake that rocked northern Japan. The data sharing announced Wednesday is only for aid organizations — the average Facebook user isn’t going to see it — and could provide valuable insight into where groups should send supplies or other aid.

“Humanitarian organizations need more of a birds-eye view” of areas affected by natural disasters, said Molly Jackman, a public policy research manager at Facebook. “We thought Facebook could help paint a more complete picture so organizations know where resources are needed the most.” The data could be used to see how populations are moving, where they are checking in safely and how their normal routines have been disrupted.

The Red Cross of America has been using crowdsourced data to speed up aid for years, and Facebook’s Safety Check information will be one of many assets it uses to get a handle on what’s happening on the ground, said Dale Kunce, who oversees the organization’s data and technology aid projects.

Facebook said it’s using data only from users who’ve opted in to location tracking and that it’s looking at that data in aggregate. That means, for example, that Facebook can say how people in a neighborhood have dispersed following a flood, but not specifically where John Smith has gone.