Facebook announces new tools to help health researchers to tack COVID-19

Facebook’s Head of Health KX Jin and Data for Good Policy Lead Laura McGorman, have announced in a blogpost, that as part of its Data for Good programme, Facebook will offer new tools for maps on population movement that researchers and non-profits are already using to understand the Coronavirus crisis. The maps use aggregated data to protect users’ privacy. The tools include three new types of Disease Prevention Maps to help inform disease forecasting efforts and protective measures, as well as a prompt on Facebook encouraging people in the USA to participate in a voluntary survey from Carnegie Mellon University Delphi Research Center designed to help health researchers identify COVID-19 hotspots earlier. According to Mashable, the data relayed in the new maps are meant to establish trends in an area and not to help track down individuals.