The government asked Tuesday information technology giants, dubbed GAFA, and Japan's Telecommunications Carriers Association to provide data to help stem the spread of the new coronavirus.
GAFA includes Google LLC and Facebook Inc. -- while the Telecommunications Carriers Association comprises Yahoo Japan Corp., Rakuten Inc. and other major cell phone companies.
The government plans to estimate the number of sick people in each region based on the search history of words such as fever and tiredness on the Internet. It also envisions verifying whether the request to refrain from going out is effective based on data on mobile phone locations.
The request is not legally binding and only covers non-personal data. The government says it will delete the data once it is done dealing with the coronavirus epidemic.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
