Experts from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre have contributed to the World Geospatial Industry Council's report on "Geospatial Information and Privacy: Policy Perspectives and Imperatives for the Geospatial Industry".
At the same time, due to the power of location, technologies that collect, analyze,visualize, store, and distribute geolocation and other types of geospatial information are being used more often in government, industry, academia and by citizens.
These two trends are converging, as the privacy community is recognizing the power of location information – often aggregated with other types of information - to either
identify a specific individual or make critical decisions based upon his or her movements, activities, associations,and relationships.
Due to the inherent versatility of geospatial information which allows one data set to be used for a variety of applications, it is difficult to develop laws and regulations that protect the privacy, and the misuse of data while still allowing the collection and use of geospatial information for a wide range of important applications.
The challenge will become even greater as the quality of the data (accuracy, precision, timeliness, etc.) increases, and the scope of data (radar, infrared, hyperspectral, etc.) grows.
This document will focus mainly on the following two questions:
- How does data protection and privacy legislation relate to the geospatial information sector?
- What are the requirements under data protection and privacy legislation throughout the world, and how do they impact the members of the WGIC and the geospatial industry at large?
Know more on "Location privacy" in the ELISE's dedicated space.