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Cell phone GPS data reveals social distancing trends

ORLANDO, Fla. — Analysts are using the GPS data from cellular phones to study social distancing habits over time.

Ben Kaplan, CEO of "Top Data," says his company is able to study publicly available, anonymous smartphone data to determine how often people are interacting with each other.

"We have a measurement where we can see if people are in the same GPS range with one another for 5 minutes or more," Kaplan says.

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In March, before stay-at-home orders were put into place, Kaplan says people were interacting with each other an average of 9 times per day. 

A month later, after stay-home orders were implemented, that number dropped to an average of two per day.

As the state started its phased reopening process, interactions spiked again to about six per day.

“2 to 3 weeks later, you can predict a spike in COVID cases,” Kaplan said.

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Now, Top Data is tracking another trend towards fewer interactions, suggesting people are taking it upon themselves to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

"People are adjusting based on what they've seen on the news," Kaplan says.

Top Data says the decrease in interactions is small, but it's still a good sign.

"The hope for us is over time that it gets to be a little more consistent," Kaplan says.

Top Data says it will continue tracking this data to provide a better picture of social distancing in the community as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.