Monday, November 22, 2010

Spatial Law and Policy 2011 Conference (January 12, 2011)

Tentative Agenda
Tysons Corner, Virginia

8:00-9:00 Registration and Coffee

9:00 – 9:30 Introduction

9:30– 10:30 Session 1: Intellectual Property
Kevin D. Pomfret, Executive Director, Centre for Spatial Law and Policy
Discussion of recent developments and relevant case law
in Intellectual Property related to collection, use and distribution of spatial data. Topics addressed will include (i) complexity of combining data sets with differing licensing terms; (ii) copyright issues associated with databases and maps; (iii) copyright and the Freedom of Information Act, and (iv) the movement towards “full and open” spatial data.

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-11:45 Session 1 (continued): Intellectual Property
Melanie Holloway, Leading-Edge Law Group
Discussion of potential issues associated with growing availability of
“full and open data”.

12:00-1:1:15 Lunch
Anne Hale Miglarese, Booz Allen Hamilton
Key legal and policy considerations for the National Geospatial Advisory
Council

1:30 – 2:30 Session 2: Privacy
Kevin Pomfret, Executive Director
Discussion of relevant case law and recent developments related to location privacy, including: (i) proposed legislation and regulation in the U.S., (ii) Fourth Amendment issues associated with location privacy; and (iii) privacy issues associated with “crowd-sourcing”, the SmartGrid and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS).

2:30-3:30 Session 3 Use of Spatial Data in the Courtroom
Rick Crowsey, Crowsey Incorporated (invited)
Discussion of the issues associated with the growing use of spatial data in litigation and other legal disputes.

3:30 – 345 Break

3:45 – 4:45 Session 3: Data Quality/Liability Issues
Kevin Pomfret, Executive Director
Kevin Pomfret, Executive DirectorDiscussion of relevant case law and recent developments concerning potential liability claims, including: (i) tort claims; (ii) product liability and (iii) future issues associated with use of spatial technology for commercial purposes.

4:45 – 5:45 Session 3 (cont’d): Data Quality/Liability Issues
Michael Phelan, Law Offices of Michael G. Phelan, P.C.
Discussion of how a litigation attorney looks at issues of quality.
Registration $50. For more information, contact Kevin Pomfret at kevin@spatiallaw.com

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Location Privacy - Why It Is Different!

Location privacy is increasingly becoming caught up in the larger discussion of internet privacy in the U.S. While not unexpected, it would be a mistake to include location privacy in the larger discussion without acknowledging some fundamental differences between location and other privacy concerns associated with the internet. For example:

  • The concept of location privacy in a public setting is a new one. In the past we generally assumed that only two groups of people knew our location when we were in public: the people who saw us there and the people we told where we were going. In reality of course, the universe was much larger, as it included anyone that these people told. However, we often simply chose to ignore or forget this point. Today, we are coming to recognize that the potential size of the group that is "told" our location is the rest of the wired world. That may make many people uncomfortable - but does it rise to the level of an invasion of privacy from a legal standpoint? Also, those that argue that it is an invasion of privacy should be required to articulate exactly what constitutes the invasion of privacy and why: the collection of the data from the public place, the use of the data collected or the sharing of the data with third parties? Any attempt to regulate location privacy without a clear understanding of the differences between the three is likely to lead to legislation and regulation that is overly broad and result in unintended consequences.
  • Location information is fundamentally different than other categories of information generally protected for privacy reasons, such as our credit card numbers, bank accounts or medical history. A person generally tries to protect against third parties obtaining the latter type of information unless they know exactly how it is going to be used. However, we give our location to strangers each time we go out into the public. An individual's location in public is also different from an individual's IP addresses or a record of the websites they have visited, as people don't generally disclose this information to others. As a result, it would be impractical - as well as inconsistent - to try and regulate location information in the same way as these other types of more personal information.
  • Location data is just now being used to provide a growing number of critical governmental, societal and business services. The number and value of these services are increasing daily. Attempting to regulate the collection of location data without a full understanding of the technology and its vast potential could have a number of unintended consequences, including limiting the development of a number of critical governmental services. Such opportunity costs should be fully understood and explored before regulating location from a privacy standpoint. In addition, any such legislation should be narrowly tailored so as not to inhibit further growth of this important technology.

This is not to suggest that there are no privacy concerns associated with location. For example, there are legitimate concerns about protecting consumer’s location privacy against such threats as so-called “cyberstalking”. In addition, there are legitimate Fourth Amendment concerns associated with how the U.S. government collects location information, particularly over an extended period of time. However, experience suggests that trying to address such specific concerns in internet privacy legislation that already promises to be broad and far reaching will make things overly complicated and is unlikely to achieve the desired results. A better alternative would be to design specific legislation to address such concerns, such as making cyberstalking a crime.


Location is becoming an increasingly important and misunderstood component of our daily lives. As a result, it is not surprising that there are increased calls by politicians for the need to regulate the geolocation industry. However before attempting to address concerns over location privacy, it is critical to both fully understand the technology (and its benefits) and to identify which privacy concerns are legitimate. Attempting to regulate geolocation before doing so would be a mistake.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Spatial Law and Policy Update (November 13, 2010)

From the Centre for Spatial Law and Policy

Privacy
Police abandon plan to use GPS on dementia patients
4% of on-line Americans use location based services
Geo-Slavery: Location Awareness Gone Wrong?
Privacy Likely to Remain on Congress' Agenda
STD scare? Just take your phone to the loo!
Barton: Next Congress Will Focus on Online Privacy
EU wants stronger online privacy rules
Air Force warns against location-based app
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Assocation LBS Guidelines

Data Quality/Liability
Google Tool May Have Had Wrong Polling Place
Faulty GPS tells soldiers in Afghanistan they are in Africa

National Security/Law Enforcement
State v. Danney
Error in Nicaraguan/Costa Rican border results in improper incursion
Irish tax authorities using Google Earth
Trailer thief spotted on Google Street View?
The speed camera that doesn't just check your speed
NGA Looking at Amazon, Apple for Imagery Distribution Ideas

Spatial Data Infrastructure
White House Issues Policy for Controlled Unclassified Information
FGDC seeks comment on Geospatial Platform

International
Technology key to US-India relationship
Vietnam challenges Chinese on-line map border

Intelligent Transportation System
For Traffic, Real-Time Information is Too Late

Crowd-sourcing
Adding Cabbie Know-How to Online Mapping

Miscellaneous
Argentina requires GPS for mining sites
Commerce issues license to hyperspectral satellite
Four legal predictions for location-based services