MapSafe: A complete tool for achieving geospatial data sovereignty

Abstract

AbstractSensitive geographic data are invaluable assets for the people to whom they belong and their disclosure should be decided by the sovereign data owner (SDO). Due to several high‐profile data breaches and business models that commercialize user data, the need for new approaches to geoprivacy and data sovereignty has grown. We propose MapSafe, a client web application that first obfuscates datasets using donut masking or hexagonal binning, separately, and thereafter implements a multi‐level encryption scheme that permits SDOs to share the final encrypted volume containing the geospatial information when they choose and at a level of detail which they are comfortable. The authenticity verification of the volume is facilitated by storing the hash value corresponding to the encrypted volume immutably on the Blockchain as a public record. Our approach places geoprivacy under data guardians'’ control, and its integration capabilities promote its adoption in existing and future geospatial web systems.