The perceived impact of location privacy: A web-based survey of public health perspectives and requirements in the UK and Canada
The perceived impact of location privacy: A web-based survey of public health perspectives and requirements in the UK and Canada
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DOI：
10.1186/1471-2458-8-156
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发表时间：
2008-05-09
影响因子：
4.5
通讯作者：
Jones, Ray
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
AbdelMalik, Philip;Boulos, Maged N. Kamel;Jones, Ray
背景：随着空间分析和地理信息系统（GIS）迅速成为公共卫生专业人员工具箱的关键组成部分，公共卫生专业人员的“地方意识”正在增强。然而，“地点”在最精确、最细粒度的范围内最有用，这增加了识别风险，从而与隐私问题发生冲突。本文描述了通过基于网络的调查收集的加拿大和英国公共卫生专业人员对隐私问题和空间数据的看法和要求。方法：通过 2006 年 11 月至 2007 年 1 月期间进行的基于网络的调查收集了对隐私影响的看法。该调查针对涉及公共卫生的政府、非政府和学术 GIS 实验室和研究小组，以及公共卫生单位（加拿大）、部委和观测站（英国）。潜在参与者被邀请通过个人发送的标准化电子邮件参与。结果：在加拿大的 112 名受邀者和英国的 75 名受邀者中，分别有 66 人和 28 人参与了调查。加拿大的完成率为91%，英国为86%。两国之间没有观察到反应差异。 93% 的参与者表示在其公共卫生活动中需要个人身份数据 (PID)，包括地理信息。 71% 的受访者认为隐私是公共卫生实践的障碍。隐私立法和政策知识的总体自评中位数为 7 分（满分 10 分）。那些将隐私知识评为较高（中位数或以上）的人也将其视为研究障碍的严重程度明显更高（P < 0.001）。两国参与者提到的最关键原因是官僚主义。结论：PID 要求（包括精细地理）与隐私及其相关官僚主义施加的限制之间的冲突需要立即引起关注和解决方案，特别是考虑到 GIS 在公共卫生领域的使用不断增加。解决方案包括协调隐私立法与公共卫生要求、简化官僚机构、增加多学科讨论、教育以及开发用于使用和报告分类数据的工具集、算法和指南。
Background: The "place-consciousness" of public health professionals is on the rise as spatial analyses and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are rapidly becoming key components of their toolbox. However, "place" is most useful at its most precise, granular scale - which increases identification risks, thereby clashing with privacy issues. This paper describes the views and requirements of public health professionals in Canada and the UK on privacy issues and spatial data, as collected through a web-based survey.Methods: Perceptions on the impact of privacy were collected through a web-based survey administered between November 2006 and January 2007. The survey targeted government, non-government and academic GIS labs and research groups involved in public health, as well as public health units (Canada), ministries, and observatories (UK). Potential participants were invited to participate through personally addressed, standardised emails.Results: Of 112 invitees in Canada and 75 in the UK, 66 and 28 participated in the survey, respectively. The completion proportion for Canada was 91%, and 86% for the UK. No response differences were observed between the two countries. Ninety three percent of participants indicated a requirement for personally identifiable data (PID) in their public health activities, including geographic information. Privacy was identified as an obstacle to public health practice by 71% of respondents. The overall self-rated median score for knowledge of privacy legislation and policies was 7 out of 10. Those who rated their knowledge of privacy as high (at the median or above) also rated it significantly more severe as an obstacle to research (P < 0.001). The most critical cause cited by participants in both countries was bureaucracy.Conclusion: The clash between PID requirements - including granular geography - and limitations imposed by privacy and its associated bureaucracy require immediate attention and solutions, particularly given the increasing utilisation of GIS in public health. Solutions include harmonization of privacy legislation with public health requirements, bureaucratic simplification, increased multidisciplinary discourse, education, and development of toolsets, algorithms and guidelines for using and reporting on disaggregate data.