Comparison of mobility trends data from Google and Apple.
In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, a number of private organisations began publishing indicators which shed light on the social, economic or environmental changes which resulted from social distancing measures or 'lockdown'. These included Google and Apple who both produced measures of mobilty albeit using quite different methodologies. The measures are designed to inform policy decisions as well public debate, and have been widely used including by the UK government.
Criticisms have been made of such use, notably due to the lack of transparency in the measures and the absence of any commitment to consistency or continuity (see for example: http://www.ubdc.ac.uk/news-media/2020/may/tracking-lockdown-supporting-recovery-the-potential-and-the-pitfalls-of-big-data/). This project adds to the discussion by looking at what the measures show.