Containing Ebola
Call data records, information generated from mobile phone calls, have been used in the past to monitor and map out disease outbreaks. According to an article by The Economist, a weekly newspaper magazine that takes a stand of classical and economic liberalism, CDRs were used to track movement by groups of people during the malaria outbreaks in Africa, swine-flu outburst in Mexico, and the cholera disease in Haiti. By using these data, epidemiologists were able to analyze trends in movement by people and thus predict where the diseases would hit next. Now, with the Ebola outbreak affecting Africa and now the United States, epidemiologists could look into using CDRs to map out areas where Ebola could strike next, and take appropriate action to contain the disease from spreading.
By mapping out a network of CDRs, analysts could observe trends and clusters of people in certain areas that have been affected by Ebola, and by monitoring movements by these people and the ones they are in contact with, epidemiologists could trace along these paths to follow the movement of Ebola. Furthermore, if the strength of edges and connections were given through these CDRs, trends and paths would be more accurate, and pinpointing Ebola travel would be more effective.
However, some technical and ethical issues arise from using CDRs, according to the article. In Africa, the main continent affected by Ebola currently, there exists limited samples due to the small number of people with mobile phones. Thus, it would be hard to gather enough data to find accurate trends. In the United States, there have not been many people affected, and immediate action has already been taken for those infected. In this case, it would not be difficult to use call data records to follow Ebola movement and contain the virus. Moreover, in areas where CDRs are available, the problem of privacy stands. However, these data only contain basic information, such as phone numbers, location, time of and duration of call, and a sequence of numbers that identify the CDR. No content of the call is recorded, yet some feel this is still an invasion of privacy. Nevertheless, these data belong to the service providers under contract, and it should be up to them to allow epidemiologists to use the data. CDRs may not be the cure for Ebola, but using these data is definitely taking a step towards containing the virus and preventing it from spreading.