A new video making the social media rounds looks to demonstrate the dangers of Americans refusing to follow social distancing guidelines during the Coronavirus emergency. The one minute and 15 second feature on the Twitter feed of location data firm Tectonix GEO claims to track the mobile devices of spring-breakers, following where the throngs went after Spring Break 2020 concluded.
According to an accompanying statement, Tectonix GEO “analyzed secondary locations of anonymized mobile devices that were active at a single Ft. Lauderdale beach during spring break.” The imagery tracked the “heat signatures” of those mobile signals as they left south Florida and headed out into the world throughout the rest of March.
Within days of the vacation wrapping up, cell users flooded the U.S. up to Maine and from the eastern seaboard to the Mississippi River. If any of those signals is a young person infected with COVID-19 thanks to the close quarters parties demand, chances for the virus to increase its spread climb exponentially.
Many traditional Sprink Break activities went on despite the threat of COVID-19 and calls to ... [+]
The continuation of Florida’s Spring Break festivities drew extensive criticism from around the country as other major seasonal events from the NCAA Basketball Tournament to Major League Baseball’s Spring Training and Opening Day were cancelled to avoid large gatherings capable of spreading Coronavirus.
The Tectonix GEO concept was produced with technical assistance from location data firm, XMode, and assures the viewer that the tracked signals were monitored anonymously. Regardless, a video with the evident intention of encouraging Americans to continue to isolate and self-quarantine drew a surprising amount of criticism in social media circles.
Twitter user @tulsaoufan used some foul-mouthed emojis to suggest the tracking imagery was simply CGI and a fictitious, Hollywood-style hoax. Multiple commentators protested and questioned the ethics and legality of tracking the signals, even under the cloak of anonymity.
As @RTawneyJr put it: “I think the fact that this kind I'd tracking is possible is MUCH scarier than the virus.”
Note: Tectonix GEO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
