YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – A data tracking company is keeping tabs on how we’re doing practicing social distancing. They’re giving us a grade, and the results aren’t the best.

Data tracking company Unacast is using anonymous GPS cell phone data to measure how well people have been keeping apart.

Every day, Unacast updates their social scoreboard with the latest data and gives counties and states a grade. They find the grades through three separate categories: Percent in change of average distance traveled, percent of change in non-essential visitation, and percent of change in human encounters.

Overall in Ohio, we have received an F grade and got an F since they started tracking the cases back in February.

Mahoning County got an F in all three categories, but there was a major improvement around April 10, which brought the score up to a C. Right now, as we begin to open back up, worse results are coming in.

Trumbull County got an F grade as well and also had a similar trend around Apirl 10.

Columbiana County received an F grade for their efforts in social distancing.

The best scoring county in Northeast Ohio is Portage County with a D. No county in Ohio got higher than a C.

Pennsylvania as a whole is scoring better than Ohio, despite the larger number of cases and seats. Their grade is a D-.

Mercer, Lawrence and Beaver counties all scored an F. All three counties were scoring a C- in early April, but that has dropped.

The best scoring county in Western Pennsylvania is Allegheny County with a C-. Just like Ohio, no county in Pennsylvania scored higher than a C.

Unacast also looks at how well the retail industry is doing. We can watch the grades this week as retail stores begin reopening Tuesday.

Unacast collects GPS data in the following ways: (Source: Unacast privacy statement.)

“In addition to the data provided by our Partners, we receive data through our software development kit (“SDK”) included in Apps of some of our Partners. Some of the data we receive from the Partners or through the SDK may constitute Personal Data under applicable laws.”

The data provided by the Partners and the SDK may include:

  • IDFA and/or advertising identifier (“Advertising ID”)
  • Location of the mobile device expressed as the latitude, altitude, and longitude of the mobile device and the derived identity of the location, such as a fast food restaurant
  • Mobile device operating system and operating system version
  • Mobile device make and model
  • The name and version of an App
  • Other metadata associated with the mobile device, such as network type and IP address
  • The category of the App that collected data (i.e. casual gaming, weather, social media)
  • GPS horizontal accuracy value
  • If the App was in active use or in the background when data was collected
  • The speed at which the device was traveling
  • If the device was being charged at the time of data collection
  • The direction that the device was traveling
  • If the device is connected to a WiFi or cellular network
  • WiFi SSID (network name) or BSSID (MAC address for the router)
  • Nearby SSID or BSSID and the signal strength

Where required by law, such as in the European Economic Area, we process the data provided by the Partners and the data collected by the SDK based on your consent that you have provided to our Partners. Please be reminded that you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.