What is “responsible practice” with Geospatial Data?
More and more data about places, and about people in places, are becoming available, helping us all get resources and services to exactly where they are needed.
But using location data involves risks as well as opportunities. Someone can be a user of a mobile map, and at the same time the subject of tracking in many digital mapping processes by organisations they aren’t aware of. As in other data domains, collection of data creates powers and possibilities, and these should be developed responsibly.
Data ethics principles already support good practice in many sectors (e.g. healthcare; online platforms), professions (e.g. data scientist; researcher; manager), and data categories (e.g. personal medical; online consumer; financial). Right now, there are no common principles to support responsible use of location data.
I think most users of location data want to do the right thing, but many don’t know where to start, to explore the potential impacts of what they do with data. In my title here, I’ve asked “What is “responsible practice” with geospatial data?”. The truth is, that depends on uses, contexts and risks. What has been lacking is a shared set of questions to ask, to make it easier for users to reach the right answers for their own situations.
This has been borne out by our activity since 2019, exploring data ethics for location through the Benchmark (UK) and EthicalGEO (US) initiatives. We have managed international conversations with many geospatial professionals and organizations, to explore what it means to use location data responsibly in different contexts. We found there was appetite for common, international principles to help users of geospatial data make more informed decisions, and to provide a basis for better discussions with people affected by their decisions.
That’s why we have collaborated to develop the Locus Charter, a set of founding principles to guide responsible practice. On 24 March we will formally launch the Charter.
Developing common global principles must be a collaborative activity, respecting international contexts and perspectives. The Locus Charter was developed through our initial international workshops, and offers a focus for future collaboration. We will encourage you to use the Charter principles, share them, help us improve them, and join the network of organizations working together to promote ethical use of location data.
Here are the first two founding principles, to get you started.
Locus Charter Founding Principles 1 & 2
- Realize opportunities: Location data offers many social and economic benefits, and these opportunities should be realized responsibly.
- Understand impacts: Users of location data have responsibility to understand the potential effects of their uses of data, including knowing who (individuals and groups) and what could be affected, and how. That understanding should be used to make informed and proportionate decisions, and to minimize negative impacts.
Benchmark Initiative https://benchmarkinitiative.com/
You can read more insights from techUK's #GeospatialFuture campaign here!
Laura Foster
Laura is techUK’s Head of Programme for Technology and Innovation.
