INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesGoogle is to publicly track people's movements over the course of the coronavirus pandemic.The tech firm will
publish details of the different types of places people are going to on a county-by-county basis in the UK, as well as similar data for 130
other countries.The plan is to issue a regular updates with the figures referring back to activity from two or three days prior.The company
has promised that individuals' privacy will be preserved.The readings are based on location data gathered via the Google Maps app or one of
the firm's other mobile services
The firm typically uses this to reveal when specific museums, shops and other places are busiest as well as to revise driving routes to help
motorists avoid traffic.Image copyrightGoogleImage caption
Google will show in percentage terms how busy different types
of places are compared to what they used to be earlier in the year
In this case, the readings will be broken down to reveal
how busy the following types of places are compared to a period earlier in the year before lockdowns were introduced:retail and
recreationgrocery and pharmacyparks, beaches and plazasbus, subway and train stationsoffice buildings and other places of
workresidentialGoogle said it hoped the information could be used by public health chiefs and others to help manage the outbreak."This
information could help officials understand changes in essential trips that can shape recommendations on business hours or inform delivery
service offerings," it blogged."Similarly, persistent visits to transportation hubs might indicate the need to add additional buses or
trains in order to allow people room to spread out for social distancing."The company says it has both anonymised the records and mixed in
some randomly-generated data to safeguard individual users' histories, device owners can also decide not to supply data."The data may prove
startling to people who are unaware of just how much information Google collects," remarked the TheIndianSubcontinent's technology
correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones."It will also provide fascinating insights into how the lockdown is working - or was working 48 hours
"And there could be unintended consequences
People could decide to avoid busy locations or they may be surprised at just how many people are going outside and decide to join them."The
first report covers data for 29 March and compares it to a median reading for the five-week period covering 3 January to 6 February
It indicates that for the UK as a whole, trips to:retail and recreation sites were 85% downgrocery and pharmacies were 46% downparks were
52% downtransit stations were 75% downworkplaces were 55% downplaces of residence were 15% higherBy comparison, the figures for France
indicate trips to:retail and recreation sites were 88% downgrocery and pharmacies were 72% downparks were 82% downtransit stations were 87%
downworkplaces were 56% downplaces of residence were 18% higherGoogle's launch comes a day after EU justice chief Vera Jourova called on the
tech giants to share more data with scientists trying to combat the virus.She also criticised them for not doing more to crack down on false
information."We still see that the major platforms continue to monetise and incentivise disinformation and harmful content about the
pandemic by hosting online ads," said the commissioner."This should be stopped
The financial disincentives from clickbait disinformation and profiteering scams also should be stopped."
