Coronavirus Tracking: Uber Offers Contact Tracing Data To Help Contain Pandemic

Uber has joined the ranks of companies offerings its services in fighting and containing the spread of COVID-19. Speaking to Reuters, the ride-share company confirmed that it has quietly begun offering easy access to rider and driver data to public health officials to help them conduct contact tracing for infected individuals.

The service is offered for free and has led to many governments in countries where Uber does business to advocate using them. Uber has in recent weeks taken public steps to support public health measures, including its “No Mask, No Ride” campaign to encourage the use of face masks.

Uber says that individual customer data can be obtained within a matter of hours. It is also said to be considering emergency measures that allow for quicker data acquisition in the event of death or other severe situations.

Ride-sharing services have been a notable blind-spot for many state and local health departments. According to a Reuters survey of 32 such departments, most were found to not be using data provided by companies like Uber. This included in states like Florida and Texas, which have been impacted the worst by the recent resurgence of coronavirus in the U.S.

“This data could be potentially life-saving in cities where many people use those services,” Mieka Smart, an epidemiology professor at Michigan State University, said about the service.

Contact tracing is the practice of reaching out to anyone and everyone who may have been in contact with a confirmed coronavirus patient and urging them to self-isolate for two weeks. It is considered by most public health institutions to be one of the most important measures in containing the spread of outbreaks. Despite this, the U.S. still lacks a federal-level contact tracing program or mobile application.