COVID Nearby is a secure and privacy-protecting data platform to identify and track the spread of COVID-19. People can anonymously and securely report their location and health symptoms, and use the interactive map to see the spread of COVID-19 in their communities.

Why should you use it? 

COVID Nearby empowers people to generate information that is crucial to fight COVID-19. This information is used to identify the presence of the virus and track its spread in our communities. Even a few thousand responses can help track the spread. Your participation is vital to win this fight.

Why this effort?

The key distinguishing feature of COVID Nearby is its strong privacy guarantee. COVID Nearby adopts differential privacy  一  a mathematical guarantee regarding your privacy, that holds no matter what attack is launched against it.

Who built it?

COVID Nearby was built by the Rutgers Institute of Data Science, Learning, and Applications with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Health (NIH).  

The team includes scientists from the Rutgers School of Public Health, Rutgers Business School, and the Rutgers School of Communication and Information. The team’s expertise are in epidemiology, behavioral analysis, and data privacy.