Privacy challenges in geodata and open data

Abstract

AbstractThis article presents a discussion of the emerging ethical issue of geodata privacy in geographical research. The paper highlights the importance of considering challenges to privacy when working with geographically explicit data and explores explicit ways in which researchers and practitioners can be conscious of these issues. Through summarising the key problems in this area and presenting outstanding open research areas and questions from a seminar series on geodata privacy, we highlight important considerations for future research in this field. We focus on the specific topics of appropriate anonymization, responsible data dissemination, the balance between data sharing and privacy, and the challenges posed by working across international contexts. We conclude by recommending approaches to manage various legal and ethical frameworks, raise the importance of the international context, and inspire future research to address the challenges of safeguarding sensitive geodata while promoting openness and transparency.