UK: BT / EE discusses sharing location and usage data with government to help monitor public compliance

BT, owner of UK mobile operator EE, is in talks with the government about using its phone location and usage data to monitor whether coronavirus limitation measures such as asking the public to stay at home are working. The information EE supplies would be delayed by 12 to 24 hours, and would provide the ability to create movement maps that show patterns. The data could also feed into health services' decisions, and make it possible to send health alerts to the public in specific locations. Israel and Austria are also asking their mobile networks for location data, as, reportedly, is the US.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/plan-phone-location-data-assist-uk-coronavirus-effort

Writer: Mark Sweney and Alex Hern
Publication: The Guardian