Facebook is launching tools to help scientists and healthcare professionals fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The company will collect location information from users.
A social media management team will provide scientists with information about user geolocation. This will help calculate the likelihood of people coming into contact in a particular location and find out what places they are likely to visit.
The data will help create a social connectedness index between regions. This will help predict the probability of the virus spreading.
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The company says it will not track the movement of specific people, and all the information given to researchers will be anonymous.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the information-gathering system will start working in the U.S. this week. If the project is successful, it will be extended to other countries.
(www.newsnow.co.uk)