Geoprivacy, Convenience, and the Pursuit of Anonymity in Digital Cities

Abstract

Cities demand spatial efficiencies that can be achieved only through sharing of information. Current technologies support collection, processing, and dissemination of unprecedented quantities of personal, public, and corporate information. Inherent in this milieu is an inevitable contest among societal efficiency, corporate profits, consumer convenience, personal privacy, and even freedom. The authors examine current trends in technology, data collection, legislation, and public acceptance. They find that without broad specific regulations limiting location data collection and use—including a universal protected right for individuals to pursue anonymity—governments, commercial enterprises, employers, and individuals increasingly will exploit tracking technologies at the expense of geoprivacy.

Moving beyond anonymity: Embracing a collective approach to location privacy in data-intensive geospatial analytics

“…Location privacy is closely intertwined with individual interests and personal autonomy, especially considering the substantial evidence that highlights the impact of geosurveillance. Geosurveillance pertains to the monitoring and surveillance activities that specifically focus on geographic locations, as defined by Dobson and Herbert (2021) as "the practice, usually electronic, of monitoring and recording the geometries, topologies, and attributes of places and human and physical entities both stationary and moving." Informed by architect Samuel Bentham's illustration of the Panopticon (Bentham, 2011) and philosopher Michel Foucault's theories on surveillance and disciplinary power (Foucault, 1979), scholars have engaged in extensive discussions concerning the pervasive nature of geosurveillance and its potential to undermine individuals' control over their identifiable location information, thereby impairing personal autonomy through power dynamics.…”

“…However, it has become evident that data-intensive geospatial analytics can result in substantial adverse consequences, particularly concerning location privacy that involves the protection of location information. The utilization of the growing amount of geospatial data has gradually brought about a shift in social values that accept privacy erosion as a trade-off for convenience, efficiency, and national security (Crampton, 2015; Dobson and Herbert, 2021). The extensive sharing of location data encompassing details about the whereabouts, residences, and workplaces of humans has become pervasive, and yet individuals possess limited knowledge of and control over how these data will be utilized.…”

A White Paper on Locational Information and the Public Interest

“…Chinese authorities routinely use such geospatial technology to monitor the movement of China's citizens; examples range from projecting images of jaywalkers on screens at intersections to using location tags that display social media users' locations under any postings deemed disloyal, even when the users are overseas. "China's Social Credit System is the ultimate digital-age version of the long-feared Panopticon" because "every individual is monitored through human tracking and surveillance to produce a social credit score used to rate each citizen's trustworthiness" (Dobson & Herbert, 2021).…”

“…Through the collection of location data by commercial enterprises, the most basic democratic rights of dissent and protest…can be easily tracked." (Dobson & Herbert, 2021).…”

Keeping the Human in the Loop: Awareness and Recognition of Cybersecurity Within Cyberpsychology

“…1 The world is more interconnected than ever largely due to the digital technologies that allow people from across the globe to communicate and collaborate with ease and often in real time. 2,3 Additionally, society in general has moved toward a culture of accessibility, where convenience is paramount 4 and technology continues to advance at rates that result in state-of-the-art technologies becoming obsolete before researchers, especially in psychology and other social sciences, even begin to grasp their impact on human behavior. 5 In fact, ''The Internet explosion happened very rapidly, and online, environments continue to change at a breathtaking pace.…”