AS SMARTPHONE APPS track our every move, a group of technologists in the US and UK this week offered guidelines for the ethical uses of location data. Leaders of the American Geographical Society and Britain’s mapping agency, the Ordnance Survey, want companies to commit to 10 principles, including minimizing data collection and actively seeking consent from users.
Agreeing and accepting when we first open an app may be automatic, just so we can access the desired features. But do we always think about the privacy implications? This WIRED story reports on a call by a group for guidance for guidance to help shape the ethical use of location tracking.
“We all had to start grappling with Covid and the ethical implications of contact tracing, which is all about location apps and geospatial data,” Tucker says. “We realized there is no international set of guidelines or principles for implementing location tech. It’s a big void.”
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