Chapter 19

GIS Ethics & Critical Geography

Responsibility in the age of big data. Explore how Critical GIS questions the power, privacy, and social impacts of mapping technologies.

At a Glance

Prereqs: None Time: 25 min read + 20 min scenarios Deliverable: Ethics checklist

Learning outcomes

  • Identify ethical risks in common GIS workflows (privacy, surveillance).
  • Explain the core tenets of Critical GIS and feminist geography.
  • Apply a "Do No Harm" framework before sharing sensitive spatial data.

Key terms

privacy, geoprivacy, critical GIS, data sovereignty, cartographic silence, redlining

Stop & check

  1. Why can point maps reveal sensitive information even without names?

    Answer: Locations can re-identify people or sensitive sites.

    Why: Spatial data acts as a unique fingerprint (the "mosaic effect").

    Common misconception: Removing the "Name" column makes data anonymous.

  2. What is "Cartographic Silence"?

    Answer: The intentional or unintentional omission of features/people from a map.

    Why: What is left off the map is often as political as what is included (e.g., informal settlements).

    Common misconception: Maps are objective mirrors of reality; they are selective representations.

Try it (5 minutes)

  1. Take one map you made previously and list 2 ways it could mislead a reader.
  2. Write one fix (aggregation, caveat, better legend).

Lab (Two Tracks)

Both tracks produce the same deliverable: an ethics review checklist completed for a chosen mapping scenario.

Desktop GIS Track (ArcGIS Pro / QGIS)

Pick a sensitive dataset (health, crime, endangered species) and draft a short share/not share decision with mitigation steps.

Remote Sensing Track (Google Earth Engine)

Critique a surveillance workflow. Write a reflection on the privacy implications of using high-res commercial imagery vs. open medium-res data.

Common mistakes

  • Publishing precise points for vulnerable populations.
  • Ignoring the history of the data (who collected it and why?).
  • Assuming "Open Data" means "Ethical to Use" without context.

Further reading: https://www.ucgis.org/site/gis-t-body-of-knowledge

⚖️ The Power of the Map

Maps are not neutral documents. They are instruments of power. Critical GIS is a subfield of geography that questions the underlying assumptions, biases, and socio-political impacts of geospatial technology. Who gets to map? Who gets mapped? And who is left off the map entirely?

🎨 GIS as an Art: The Art of Persuasion

Propaganda maps are masterpieces of manipulation. By subtly shifting a color ramp from "neutral blue" to "alarming red," or by choosing a projection that enlarges a threat, a cartographer can change public opinion without changing a single data point. Recognizing this artifice is the first step in ethical literacy.

🛡️ Ethics Simulator

What would you do? Choose the most ethical path.

Scenario: You are mapping disease clusters during an outbreak. The government wants you to publish a map showing the exact home addresses of the infected to "protect the public."

Geographic Inquiry: Asking Questions of Where

Before ever opening software, a GIS analyst starts with a question. "Where" is not just a coordinate; it is a relationship.

  • Concentration: Where is the phenomenon clustered?
  • Boundary: Where does it change sharply vs. gradually?
  • Uncertainty: Where is the data missing or biased?
  • Verification: Where would you stand on the ground to prove it?

Locational Privacy & Surveillance

In the age of smartphones, we generate a digital exhaust of location data every day. Geoprivacy is the right of individuals to prevent the disclosure of their movements. GIS professionals have a duty to practice "Location Masking" (geomasking) when dealing with human subjects to prevent re-identification.

Critical GIS: The Data Double

Every time you use a navigation app, you are creating a digital twin of yourself—a "Data Double." This shadow profile is sold to advertisers, insurance companies, and even data brokers. You might own your phone, but who owns the pattern of your life recorded by it?

🤝 Interdisciplinary GIS: Philosophy & Law

Data ethics isn't just a technical problem; it's a philosophical one. We borrow heavily from Bioethics (autonomy, beneficence, justice). When you decide whether to map a vulnerable population, you are engaging in a debate that philosophers like Kant and Mill started centuries ago, now codified in laws like GDPR.

Summary of Big Ideas

  • Locational Privacy: Mapping individuals without their consent can lead to stalking, harassment, or discrimination.
  • Weaponized GIS: Maps used for gerrymandering or redlining can reinforce systemic inequality.
  • Data Sovereignty: Indigenous communities serve as creating and owning their own spatial data, rather than being mapped by outsiders.
  • Open Data Ethics: Choosing when to share data (e.g., protecting endangered species) is a critical geospatial skill.

Chapter 18 Checkpoint

1. Why is "Location Masking" used in health GIS?

To protect the privacy of patients by slightly shifting their coordinates.
To make the map icons look more organized.

2. What is "Critical GIS"?

Using GIS for critical infrastructure only.
Examining the social, political, and ethical implications of mapping.

📚 Chapter Glossary

Critical GIS An approach to GIS that examines the social, political, and ethical implications of mapping technologies and data practices.
Geoprivacy The right of individuals to prevent the disclosure of the location of their personal activities.
Geomasking A technique to protect privacy by displacing point data (random perturbation) while preserving the spatial distribution for analysis.
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BoK Alignment

Topics in the UCGIS GIS&T Body of Knowledge that support this chapter.