Apple’s COVID-19 tracking tool could offer clues on when economy will get moving

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The mobility data trends tool based on data from Apple Maps.
Data from Apple Maps users was combined to show movement trends during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Photo: Apple

Wall Street analysts are reportedly combing through Apple mobility data to get clues about when the economy might get moving again, a report for Bloomberg Quint, published Wednesday, claims.

Apple launched its Mobility Trends Report tool last month. It uses anonymous data from Apple’s Maps apps to show the volume of people who are driving, walking, and taking public transport. It is there primarily to help healthcare authorities analyze the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. But financial analysts are reportedly using it to “track the pace of economic recovery and estimate consumer spending across different regions.”

“COVID-19 is like no other shock and so most investors are discounting the traditional indicators,” John Roe, head of multi-asset funds at Legal & General Investment Management, told Bloomberg. “Instead it’s all about the shape of the recovery and so we’re tracking a number of innovative data sources that that we believe will be more real time.”

Societe Generale SA and Deutsche Bank AG are also using the COVID-19-tracking mobility data. In addition to the tools provided by Apple, Bloomberg says that they are using similar tools created by Google. The report says that: “Such information can provide early clues on which countries will exit the worst recession in decades faster than others, and which will fall behind.”

Apple insists that privacy is at the heart of its Mobility Trends Reports tool. “Maps doesn’t associate your data with your Apple ID, and Apple doesn’t keep a history of where you’ve been,” the company said when it launched the service in April.

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