New reports indicate that the CDC paid $420,000 to track the locations of tens of millions of Americans through their cellphones in order to determine lockdown compliancy.
According to Vice News, the CDC paid $420,000 to SafeGraph, a data brokerage in order to obtain a year’s access to cellphone location information. The data was aggregated which means rather than seeing the locations of specific individuals, the health agency observed general trends in locations.
This helped the CDC determine whether or not Americans were breaking lockdown restrictions and going to schools, churches, or other gatherings.
In reality, it doesn’t matter whether or not Americans are going to church because it is their constitutional right to practice faith as they see fit unimpeded by government action.
In other countries like Canada, despite the same rights existing, churches were shut down and ministers were arrested for violating the rights of their citizens.
The CDC also used the data to track policy effectiveness in the Navajo Nation which is viewed as sovereign and is managed through agreements made with the U.S. government.