Apple sharing mobility data to track virus

Apple is sharing its mobility data from Apple Maps to assist public health authorities in analyzing how people are moving in communities amid the pandemic, the company announced Tuesday.

The data trends tool uses information from Apple Maps to calculate the volume of people driving, walking or taking public transit in major cities and 63 countries or regions. Apple said in a release that it aims to allow governments and health officials to use the data to implement new policies to adjust the traffic in their respective areas during the coronavirus crisis.

The company said the data comes from the number of requests made to Apple Maps for directions and therefore is not associated with a user’s Apple ID and does not keep a history of where a user has been.

Data from recent weeks, with many countries under lockdowns or stay-at-home orders, can be compared to data from earlier this year.

“While protecting your privacy, we are sharing aggregated mobility data from Apple Maps to help public health authorities learn how people travel in their communities and to provide valuable insights to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a tweet.