Recife Tracks 700,000 Cell Phones to Map Social Isolation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Recife mayor’s office has signed a partnership with the company In Loco to collect data on the movement of people in the city through cell phones. There will be at least 700,000 devices monitored to assist measures to fight the coronavirus (Covid-19).

According to the city hall, there will be no privacy invasion because the collected data does not expose the citizens’ identity. Furthermore, the municipality knows that the data is not 100 percent accurate, because some people do not use cell phones, and essential services such as supermarkets and drugstores continue to operate.

The measure will provide neighborhood monitoring, allowing to check where home isolation guidance is being disregarded. Based on this data, it will be possible to direct sound cars and send notifications to cell phones to reinforce security measures against the coronavirus.

TIM reported that it was not part of this initiative in Recife. The operator has signed a partnership with the Rio de Janeiro city government to provide a heat and motion map in the city to fight the transmission of coronavirus.

In addition, In Loco includes clients such as the Santander and Original banks, TIM and retailers such as Magazine Luiza and Hering; however, this does not mean that these companies help with data collection.

How In Loco’s tracking works

In Loco’s tracking model consists of integrating an API into partner Apps, which achieves indoor location accuracy through GPS, Wi-Fi network triangulation, Bluetooth signal and telecommunication, as well as activity sensors.

In addition to relevant data for the context of advertising, the platform can also pinpoint age, gender, how long certain Apps are open, user’s operator and smartphone model. The IP address is also obtained, but the platform omits the last four digits to eliminate accuracy.

In Loco’s privacy policy states that personal data is stored for up to two years, but may be retained to comply with its own contracts, agreements and policies, and may be provided to the courts if requested. This data may be stored on servers abroad.

Anyone who has already installed an App containing the integrated In Loco API is automatically sending data to the company. Therefore, it is not something that users have to accept. Those who are uncomfortable with this will need to fill out an opt-out form, but it is not a simple process and requires sending the company the smartphone’s own advertising ID.