"Mobile phone location data used to track Australians' movements during coronavirus crisis", 5 April 2020

Vodafone has provided the mobile phone location data of several million Australians in an anonymised and aggregated form to the federal and NSW governments to monitor whether people are following social distancing restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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...Vodafone Australia's director of corporate affairs, Dan Lloyd, said the telco had "provided, on request, aggregated network information to the NSW Department of Customer Service and the federal Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet".

"This information simply shows the total number of subscribers in various areas at points in time," Mr Lloyd said. "This information can help show trends in population movements immediately before and after the lockdown measures with the aim of assisting in the reduction of the spread of COVID-19."

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..."[N]o personal information has been provided, and no personal information could be derived from it". [...]

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The terms "anonymised" and "aggregated" mean the data is displayed in a summary form for purposes such as statistical analysis. In theory, this means individuals cannot be identified in it. The ability for individuals to be tracked using mobile location data is possible but with legal hurdles.

A Telstra spokesperson said: [...] "We work closely with intelligence agencies and law enforcement to support national security and safety efforts under the relevant legislation. Any data requests from law enforcement or government are confidential so we're unable to disclose if we've had any requests."

Optus said its priority was to keep Australians connected and safe. "This includes working with our Commonwealth and state governments to assist their efforts in navigating our country through these challenging times. We do not publicly share the requests we receive."

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