With the Coronavirus outbreak in the world, the US Government seems to be in discussion with tech giants like Google and Facebook along with other tech companies to share with the smartphone data for combating the virus. The government intends to use the location along with the data movement from US citizens via their phones to fight the virus who seems to be on the edge about the virus thus defying the potential privacy and cybersecurity issues for good. However, experts feel that with this move, the companies’ narrative in the market is going to change in the coming times in terms of data privacy.
On the other side, the government’s efforts to get the location data as facilitated by the task force of not less than sixty tech companies who have been working in the White House Office Science of Technology along with the other office called Office of American Innovation claimed the sources who seemed to be familiar with the situation. The companies and organizations who all are involved in a wide range of work dealing with the smartphone like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, IBM, Uber and others like the public health leaders from top institutes like Harvard are going to help in fighting the outbreak of the virus in a big way.
With the cases for the virus in the world seen going high all across the world with death tolling to around 9149 and around 223,000 cases reported, the coronavirus seems to showcase a minimal amount of sights slowing down the same. As per officials the data they get from the tech companies would help in deciphering where the next flood of cases will help in getting additional health resources. The task force is known to have a simple mission, just to help in using this data and expertise of the company and community to offer the recommendations to the White House along with the public health officials who would help in reducing the impact of the ailment in a big way.
Working with a wide range of tech experts and others of different fields would help them in finding out the ways of of the impact that it can have in the current commitments to the consumers claimed by Mr. Josh Mendelsohn the managing partner the venture capital company called Hangar, which also remains the part and parcel of the task force. The government is seen coming out with technological offers that would help in getting the required resources in order to vet the offers or companies in making them in the right way. The task force is seen in sorting out via studying and analyzing the companies to make them right.
The task force is seen sorting out via studying different solutions and proposals along with recommendations that are known to focus on different areas including the clinical data, location data, the social isolation issues and the telehealth. This has come into action only on 16th March when the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued an action plan for the tech companies to work on data mining activities seeking the help of tech community and AI experts. This has remained a high-priority scientific task to embark upon questions related to COVID-19.