Google now includes state-wise data for India in Community Mobility Reports

Google’s Community Mobility Reports, a website launched in April to track people’s movement in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, now includes state-wise data for India. It uses smartphone location data to publish reports about people’s movement in an area. So far, the reports were country-specific and showed trends of certain locations.

“We have heard from public health officials that this same type of aggregated, anonymised data could be helpful as they make critical decisions to combat covid-19,” the company had said in a blog post when it first announced the Community Mobility Reports website.

The data in the reports is anonymised and does not give away personal information of users. However, it is based on location data Google gathers from smartphones of users who allow access.