A white paper on locational information and the public interest
- Author(s)
- Michael Goodchild, Richard Appelbaum, Jeremy Crampton, William Herbert, Krzysztof Janowicz, Mei-Po Kwan, Katina Michael, Luis Alvarez León, Mia Bennett, Daniel Cole, Kitty Currier, Victoria Fast, Jeffery Hirsch, Markus Kattenbeck, Peter Kedron, Joseph Kerski, Zilong Liu, Trisalyn Nelson, Toby Shulruff, Renée Sieber, John Wertman, Clancy Wilmott, Bo Zhao, Rui Zhu, Julaiti Nilupaer, Coline Dony, Gary Langham
- Abstract
Recent developments in geospatial technologies have prompted growing concern within the research community about the ethical implications of their use. We have reached the point where a largely unregulated mix of government, nonprofit, and corporate agencies have access to vast quantities of locational information that are acquired every day about a significant proportion of the world’s population. Although many of the uses of this information are beneficial and benign, too often they are or can become intrusive or serve oppressive purposes. Additionally, the demand for accredited geospatial professionals is outpacing the supply. Meanwhile, the geospatial industry is innovating quickly and will continue to generate enormous volumes of geospatial data at even higher speeds and of greater variety than at present. The issues that arise from these realities, taken together, need wider recognition by many stakeholders, including individuals, industry leaders, labor leaders and organizers, and the scientific community.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geography and Regional Research
- External organisation(s)
- University of California, Santa Barbara, Newcastle University, City University of New York, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Arizona State University, Association of American Geographers, Dartmouth College, University of Washington, Smithsonian Institution, University of Calgary, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Technische Universität Wien, University of Denver, McGill University, Environmental Systems Research Institute, University of California, Berkeley, University of Bristol
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.14433/2017.0113
- Publication date
- 2022
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 507003 Geoinformatics
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/692cee9b-c0f0-444e-be36-3477961f2171