Abstract
Modern mobile devices are replete with advanced sensors that expand the array of possible methods of locating users. This can be used as a tool to gather and use spatial information, but it also brings with it the specter of “geosurveillance” in which the “location” becomes a product in itself. In the realm of software developers, space/place has been reduced and discretized to a set of coordinates, devoid of human experiences and meanings. To function in such digitally augmented realities, people need to adopt specific attitudes, often marked with anxiety. We explored attitudes toward location data collection practices using qualitative questionnaire surveys (n = 280) from Poznan and Edinburgh. The prevailing attitude that we identified is neutral with a strong undertone of resignation—surrendering personal location is viewed as a form of digital currency. A smaller number of people had stronger, emotional views, either very positive or very negative, based on uncritical technological enthusiasm or fear of privacy violation. Such a wide spectrum of attitudes is not only produced by interaction with technology but can also be a result of different values associated with space and place itself. Those attitudes can bring additional bias into spatial datasets that is not related to demographics.
Highlights
Introduction and Literature ReviewIn a relatively short span of time, location data have become an important part of our everyday life
Clarke and Wigan [24] mention several dangers they associate with dataveillance and personal location disclosure: (1) psychological damage from disclosure of embarrassing behavior; (2) ‘chilling effect’ on non-conformist behavior; (3) profiling, suspicion-generation and manipulation of consumer behavior; (4) using location data as ‘circumstantial evidence’ for criminal cases; (5) enhanced visibility of behavior that allows for easier surveillance; (6) ‘chilling effect’ on voicing of unpopular opinion and participation in demonstrations, which can lead to a weaker democracy; (7) greater possibility of politically damaging disclosures; (8) real-life repression of the locatable and trackable individuals
Our coding scheme allowed for 48 possible attitude types—including those formed by N/A codes
Summary
Introduction and Literature ReviewIn a relatively short span of time, location data have become an important part of our everyday life. In our view, be used to describe the complex ways in which people perceive, feel about, and use location-based technologies. RQ1: How much knowledge about location-based services and technologies do ordinary people have or rather think they have?
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