The company Google analyses the location data of its users and currently uses this knowledge to illustrate the effects of the worldwide COVID-19 restrictions. The new service called "COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports" shows the drastic effects of the legal restrictions on social life. It examines the activities (duration and length of stay) in commercial areas, parks, public transportation, and places of work and residence of Google users worldwide. For almost every country in the world, a separate report is provided free of charge and updated every 2-3 days. For federally constituted states, the information is also presented separately for the member states (federal states, cantons, etc.).
In the Principality of Liechtenstein (as of April, 11th 2020), for example, activity in commercial areas (restaurants, bars, shopping centers, etc.) declined by 74%, while activity in system-relevant local suppliers such as supermarkets and pharmacies declined by only 18%. Activity in workplaces even declined by 79%.
The company emphasises that the privacy of its customers is protected in connection with the evaluation of the data. No sensitive data such as whereabouts, contacts or movement patterns of individual persons should be published.
However, to ensure that no personal data is passed on to third parties, it is recommended to deactivate "Google Location History" or to do completely without location data transfer, and to delete data already collected.
You can manage your own location history at https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3118687?hl=en.
The service will remain in place for the entire period of the crisis. At the moment, the "Community Mobility Reports" are only available in English. It should also be noted that the service is not suitable for assessing medical matters and personal travel plans.
The reports for the various countries can be found at: https://www.google.com/covid19/mobility/
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
