Ethical concerns on geospatial technologies
The main set of ethical concerns on geospatial technologies is the confidentiality and informed consent of the participants and users of the apps Wood CITE. The belief of informed consent indicates that the users and participants should consent to the use of geospatial apps with a full understanding of the potential benefits and risks of using the apps. Institutional review board (IRBs) use this norm and request for researchers to account for the informed consent processes in the ethical reviews Hemming CITE. The proliferation of the use of technology apps, mainly Google Map apps should reflect the informed consent processes in various ways. First, the app users should be informed of the use of the digital threat of the apps entail. The apps administrators and researchers should inform the users of the appropriate measures they need to take to protect their information and how to effectively communicate with apps administrators without the fear of surveillance or interception.
The navigation procedure should depict the information that research publications will be made available online and users participating in the navigation will make their experiences and views accessible to a wider audience that the use of paper-based publications. This is essential if people intend to share interview transcripts with other researchers and upload the navigation repository CITE Parkinson and Wood, 2015). Informed consent about online publication and digital security should not be used in overburdening researchers and users but should focus on explaining the ethical issues in accessible language. Protecting the users who want to remain anonymous is considered imperative mainly for navigation involving sensitive topics like organized crime, political violence and socially stigmatized behaviours. This will give Google responsibility for safeguarding the identities of app users. This will ensure confidentiality measures like attempts to anonymize field and navigation notes, movement precautions and interview transcripts. Informed consent needs the users to have a capacity of withdrawing their information altogether. These practices are important in Google Map app to ensure navigation ethics as they help in protecting identity and sensitive information of users.