Accuracy and privacy aspects in free online reverse geocoding services

Kounadi, Ourania; Lampoltshammer, Thomas J.; Leitner, Michael; Heistracher, Thomas

doi:10.1080/15230406.2013.777138

Cited by 42 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Reverse geocoding is a technique deemed to be in breach of privacy for three fundamental reasons. Firstly, it allows geographic coordinates to be taken from a map to extract textual information such as a name, address or telephone number (Kounadi et al, 2013). Secondly, without the implementation of geomasking, what was discovered as a mere crime point on a map could lead to a wealth of information being obtained to advance corporate interests (Poulsen and Kennedy, 2004).…”

Section: The Balancing Act Between Privacy Legislation and Providing mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ Whilst it is welcome that the data available on Police.uk adheres so closely to privacy guidelines, this means that comprehensive analysis by researchers external to police facilities is constrained. For instance, the study of spatiotemporal patterns of crime as a conduit towards analysis of offender spatial movement is impeded by the lack of precision offered (Kounadi et al, 2013). It has been stated that the ''identification of spatial and temporal patterns of crime is one of the most important policy-related developments in contemporary criminological research'' (Block and Fujita, 2013: 151) but this is a process which relies on access to precise records of exactly when and where specific crime types occurred.…”

Section: Use Of Policeuk Data By the Research Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An exploration of the progress of open crime data: how do ongoing limitations with the Police.uk website restrict a comprehensive understanding of recorded crime?

Quinn

Cooke

Monaghan

2017

Policing and Society

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Open source crime data provided by the Police.uk website was introduced in 2008. This provision challenged what had been termed a 'top down' political culture and was introduced to help increase government transparency and accountability. We examine these concepts here and outline some of the significant developments over the last decade related to the information contained within the Police.uk resource. Our focus then moves towards limitations of the data set provided, some of which are as pervasive today as they were when this online data source was first introduced. We explore whether these drawbacks are irresolvable and consider the practical implications they will have when this open data set is utilised by members of the public and researchers. Ultimately, we give an assessment of the efficacy of this source of information for the user within the context of the government rhetoric which accompanied it.

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Section: The Balancing Act Between Privacy Legislation and Providing mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Use Of Policeuk Data By the Research Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

An exploration of the progress of open crime data: how do ongoing limitations with the Police.uk website restrict a comprehensive understanding of recorded crime?

Quinn

Cooke

Monaghan

2017

Policing and Society

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“…Collectively, these findings underscore that despite growing literature raising the alarm about potential confidentiality breaches, as well as development of new methods for geomasking spatial data (e.g., Allshouse et al, 2010; Bader et al, 2016; Gutmann et al, 2008; Hampton et al, 2010; Kounadi et al, 2013; Kounadi & Leitner, 2015; Krumm, 2007; Seidl et al, 2015; VanWey et al, 2005), many public health researchers remain unaware of the potential risks and evolving solutions to help mitigate these risks. Our failure to effectively translate existing knowledge into practice may be due in part to the evolving intersection of two fields of inquiry (e.g., geography and public health).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using sexual and reproductive health, a field in which researchers routinely collect data on stigmatizing behaviors and health outcomes, as a case study, we characterize the extent to which peer-reviewed literature published and indexed in PubMed between January 1, 2013 and September 1, 2015 risks participant confidentiality by presenting maps with 1) unmasked point data or 2) small-population area-based geographic units that include additional demographic information associated with the individual or disease helping to narrow identification (“quasi-identifiers”). Geospatial data can be uniquely identifying when combined with quasi-identifiers (El Emam et al, 2010; Kounadi et al, 2013; Sweeney, 2000, 2002; VanWey et al, 2005). However, to our knowledge, no previous studies have assessed the extent to which maps in peer-reviewed publications risk participant confidentiality by including quasi-identifiers when presenting results using small-population area-based geographic units.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confidentiality considerations for use of social-spatial data on the social determinants of health: Sexual and reproductive health case study

Haley

Matthews

Cooper

et al. 2016

Social Science & Medicine

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Understanding whether and how the places where people live, work, and play are associated with health behaviors and health is essential to understanding the social determinants of health. However, social-spatial data which link a person and their attributes to a geographic location (e.g., home address) create potential confidentiality risks. Despite the growing body of literature describing approaches to protect individual confidentiality when utilizing social-spatial data, peer-reviewed manuscripts displaying identifiable individual point data or quasi-identifiers (attributes associated with the individual or disease that narrow identification) in maps persist, suggesting that knowledge has not been effectively translated into public health research practices. Using sexual and reproductive health as a case study, we explore the extent to which maps appearing in recent peer-reviewed publications risk participant confidentiality. Our scoping review of sexual and reproductive health literature published and indexed in PubMed between January 1, 2013 and September 1, 2015 identified 45 manuscripts displaying participant data in maps as points or small-population geographic units, spanning 26 journals and representing studies conducted in 20 countries. Notably, 56% (13/23) of publications presenting point data on maps either did not describe approaches used to mask data or masked data inadequately. Furthermore, 18% (4/22) of publications displaying data using small-population geographic units included at least two quasi-identifiers. These findings highlight the need for heightened education for researchers, reviewers, and editorial teams. We aim to provide readers with a primer on key confidentiality considerations when utilizing linked social-spatial data for visualizing results. Given the widespread availability of place-based data and the ease of creating maps, it is critically important to raise awareness on when social-spatial data constitute protected health information, best practices for masking geographic identifiers, and methods of balancing disclosure risk and scientific utility. We conclude with recommendations to support the preservation of confidentiality when disseminating results.

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“…The process of obtaining further information about individuals from maps that present exact confidential locations has been described as the "transgressor's scenario" by Kounadi et al [19]. Furthermore, Leitner, Mills and Curtis [20] examined the accuracy of the reverse engineering process that is the process of extracting geographic coordinates from a point distribution on a digital map.…”

Section: Examples Of Point Maps Where a Confidential Theme Is Not Obfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining a Threshold Value for Maximum Spatial Information Loss of Masked Geo-Data

Kounadi

Leitner

2015

IJGI

Self Cite

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Abstract:Geographical masks are a group of location protection methods for the dissemination and publication of confidential and sensitive information, such as health-and crime-related geo-referenced data. The use of such masks ensures that privacy is protected for the individuals involved in the datasets. Nevertheless, the protection process introduces spatial error to the masked dataset. This study quantifies the spatial error of masked datasets using two approaches. First, a perceptual survey was employed where participants ranked the similarity of a diverse sample of masked and original maps. Second, a spatial statistical analysis was performed that provided quantitative results for the same pairs of maps. Spatial statistical similarity is calculated with three divergence indices that employ different spatial clustering methods. All indices are significantly correlated with the perceptual similarity. Finally, the results of the spatial analysis are used as the explanatory variable to estimate the perceptual similarity. Three prediction models are created that indicate upper boundaries for the spatial statistical results upon which the masked data are perceived differently from the original data. The results of the study aim to help potential "maskers" to quantify and evaluate the error of confidential masked visualizations.

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Accuracy and privacy aspects in free online reverse geocoding services

Cited by 42 publications

References 26 publications

An exploration of the progress of open crime data: how do ongoing limitations with the Police.uk website restrict a comprehensive understanding of recorded crime?

An exploration of the progress of open crime data: how do ongoing limitations with the Police.uk website restrict a comprehensive understanding of recorded crime?

Confidentiality considerations for use of social-spatial data on the social determinants of health: Sexual and reproductive health case study

Defining a Threshold Value for Maximum Spatial Information Loss of Masked Geo-Data

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