Norway repurposes mobile phone geolocation data for contact tracing

Norway's state research and development company, Simula Research Laboratory, in collaboration with the Institute of Public Health, is working to develop technical solutions to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Code discovered on Github and later removed included examples of how the researchers could detect people who had been within 50 meters of each other for at least one minute, based on geolocation data obtained from network operators Telenor and Telia, among others. The data is normally used to help the mobile operators identify gaps in coverage. The researchers hope the system will show whether the government's measures are working, and that it can provide inputs into calculations of what further measures are needed.
Article in Norwegian, from Norwegian Broadcasting, NRK:

Sources:

https://www.nrk.no/norge/xl/mobilsporingen-de-haper-skal-hjelpe-mot-koronaviruset-1.14952582
https://www.nrk.no/norge/fhi-lager-app-for-sporing-av-enkeltpersoners-bevegelser-i-kampen-mot-koronaviruset-1.14957299

Writer: Øyvind Bye Skille; Øyvind Bye Skille, Silje-Lisette Tennøy, and Truls Alnes Antonsen
Publication: NRK