Google location data shows impact of lockdown in South Africa

Google is releasing new data about how the coronavirus pandemic has cut down on foot traffic to transit centres, retail stores and public parks, including those in South Africa.

The “mobility reports” come in response to requests from public health officials who want more data on how people are moving around cities to better combat the spread of Covid-19.

Each report will show how traffic to certain categories of places, such as parks and transportation hubs, has declined in the last month. The information won’t show individual places or people.

At the time of publication, the most recently available report for South Africa was dated 29 March, three days into the national Covid-19 lockdown. They show a sharp decline in foot traffic to retail stores, shopping centres, parks and transit stations (see the graphs below):

Google said the baseline is the median value, for the corresponding day of the week, during the five-week period 3 January and 6 February 2020. The reports show trends over several weeks with the most recent data representing about two to three days ago.

Google arguably has the most accurate and granular data about people’s location of any organisation, public or private. More than a billion people worldwide use the company’s Maps app to navigate places they live and travel to, giving Google real-time insight into how people move around their environments. With Covid-19 infecting more than a million people and killing tens of thousands, governments are looking for location information to help them curb the disease and enforce lockdown orders.

At the same time, privacy advocates argue the crisis will give authorities unprecedented access to personal information that could be used to conduct surveillance and oppress populations long after the virus is stopped. Google said the mobility reports don’t impinge on privacy because they only use data from people who have agreed to share their location with the company, and the information can’t be tied to individual accounts.

“Knowing the general pattern of how a community moves can play a critical role in responding to the novel coronavirus and preventing future pandemics,” said Sara Cody, health officer and director for Santa Clara County’s public health department in the US.  — Reported By Gerrit De Vynck and Kristen V Brown, (c) 2020 Bloomberg LP, with additional reporting (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media