Google releases community mobility reports to help combat coronavirus

Google published an early release of COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports on Friday to provide aggregated, anonymized data in response to stay-at-home policies aimed at flattening the pandemic curve.

"In Google Maps, we use aggregated, anonymized data showing how busy certain types of places are-helping identify when a local business tends to be the most crowded," the company said.

According to Google officials, the reports chart movement trends over time by geography, across different high-level categories of places such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential by displaying percentage point increase or decrease in visits, which may help public health officials design guidance to protect public health and essential needs of communities.

"We do not share the absolute number of visits. To protect people's privacy, no personally identifiable information, like an individual's location, contacts or movement, is made available at any point," the company said.

The reports initially covered 131 countries and regions. More will be added in the coming weeks with regular updates.