The Need for Ethics in GIS
- Author: Mark Altaweel
- Full Title: The Need for Ethics in GIS
- Category: articles
- Document Tags: #geospatial
- URL: https://www.geographyrealm.com/need-ethics-gis/
Highlights
- For Crampton (1995), GIS should be evaluated based on how information is commoditized or it is used for surveillance activities that may monitor individuals or others unknowingly.[1|1] The use of GIS should be reviewed within a broader ethical evaluation for a project or scheme where GIS is employed. (View Highlight)
- In critical GIS perspectives, ethics are placed as a central component that argues social theory should shape how GIS is used, as improper use of a technology could cross ethical guidelines. In effect, the access to technology tempts people to use that technology, particularly as GIS is generally detached from interaction with people, in a way that could threaten someone’s individual liberties or even private information.[2|2] Since the time of those early works on ethics and GIS, smart phones and other mobile technologies that can store, access, or apply spatial data have made it easier to acquire potentially sensitive data. Increasingly, courses on GIS at university level apply these technologies; however, the ethics of application have been mostly overlooked or have not been emphasized. (View Highlight)
- The use of public participatory (or crowdsourced) GIS, which applies people from the public to help in developing GIS-led planning, policies, or other social action, is another area where GIS has expanded.[5|5] However, as the public is brought into larger studies or participation, ethical guidelines are needed so that participants are aware of how their data are used and what steps are taken to, for instance, anonymize information or make it difficult to access any individual’s specific, private details (View Highlight)