Information about people's identities would not be disclosed to
researchers, the social network promised.
Facebook on Monday
said it 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 by the Facebook
head of health KX Jin 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.
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