Apple Releases Tool To Analyze Movement

Apple has released a mobility data trends tool that displays movement data of Apple Maps users. Cupertino hopes that such information can provide helpful insights to local governments and health authorities in the fight against COVID-19.

It is also able to portray movement patterns of people and allow said authorities to develop new public policies based on the volume and modes of transportation. This data is accumulated when users access the Apple Maps app for directions to their destination. This data can then be segregated based on whether users drove, walked or used public transportation to get there.

Despite how it sounds, the tool doesn’t keep a history of where a user has been. Using aggregated data collected from Apple Maps, the new website indicates mobility trends for major cities and 63 countries or regions. The availability of said data is dependent on a few factors which include minimum thresholds for direction requests made per day.

Cupertino also says that privacy is at the core of its Maps app and that data collected like search terms, navigation routing, and traffic information is kept anonymous. The company doesn’t keep profiles of its users movements, in fact, the random and rotating identifies user to track journeys are reset continually. Take a look at the COVID-19 mobility trends here.