Google started releasing anonymized location data from users who have the "Location History" setting enabled in their Google accounts. This way, public health officials can see how effective social distancing measures are in 131 countries. The announcement mentions that Google isn't releasing any data on individual people or specific locations. Instead, "it used differential privacy techniques to add noise to the data sets used to create the reports in an effort to make it harder to de-anonymize that data used to create the reports." It means it's possible to deanonymize data, in theory, even though the risk is small. I'm so glad such huge data sets can support the fight against the pandemic, but we have to be vigilant so beating the pandemic doesn't come with the loss of our privacy. I deactivated the location history in my account years ago, but I'll now reactivate it until the pandemic is over. #themedicalfuturist #digitalhealth #future #healthcare #medicine #technology #fromchancetochoice #COVID19 #COVID_19 #coronavirus #google #locationhistory #virustracking #privacy …see more