From tchur@bigpond.com Fri Apr 16 14:29:27 1999 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.02/8.9.3+UW99.01) with ESMTP id OAA40624 for ; Fri, 16 Apr 1999 14:29:26 -0700 Received: from teapot16.domain4.bigpond.com (teapot16.domain4.bigpond.com [139.134.5.164]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.02/8.9.3+UW99.01) with SMTP id OAA19856 for ; Fri, 16 Apr 1999 14:29:25 -0700 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by teapot16.domain4.bigpond.com (NTMail 3.02.13) with ESMTP id va666089 for ; Sat, 17 Apr 1999 07:28:20 +1000 Received: from CWIP-T-003-p-221-202.tmns.net.au ([139.134.221.202]) by mail4.bigpond.com (Claudes-Froopy-MailRouter V2.2f 7/334236); 17 Apr 1999 07:28:20 Message-ID: <004c01be8847$783a6120$cadd868b@doh.health.nsw.gov.au> Reply-To: "Tim Churches" From: "Tim Churches" To: References: <004c01be880a$7b2ab700$7b790518@olmpi1.wa.home.com> Subject: Maps? and GIS and privacy Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 06:26:54 +1000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2014.211 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2014.211 Richard E. Hoskins writes: > Interesting site: See below > > Goto http://www.geodata.org then select the "Create a Map" button. > > When you zoom in close enough you can turn on aerial photos and > > 50 other map layers. Email back if you have trouble. This is an impressive facility which illustrates the threat which GIS can pose to privacy and confidentiality - if misapplied. Go to the above Web site and click on Create a Map. Scroll down to the form search section and enter Abrahamson as the surname and click search. Click on the link to view the results, then click on the link of the single search result: Abrahamson, Marlene and Fred. This will show a red shaded land parcel where Marlene and Fred live. Scroll down and click on the check box to display image data. While there, you will be able to learn Fred & Marlene's address details: OWNER: ABRAHAMSON, MARLENE & FRED Address: PO BOX 2658 City: OLYMPIA State: WA Parcel#: 11907120100 Site Address: 8510 NE GREENFIELD CT Site City: OLYMPIA Site Zip: 98506 Now scroll up and click a few times on the lower right corner (sorry, SE corner) of their block to zoom in and examine their house. They live on a wooded block with a cleared strip up the middle, like a golf fairway. They have a modest bungalow and drive a dark coloured car. Hey, there's Fred standing in front of it. He appears to be wearing a toupee... The house is very secluded - if I were a burglar (and weren't typing this in Australia), I might give Marlene and Fred a visit. OK, no health data on Marlene and Fred, but the potential for abuse is clear. What distinguishes this example is the linking of what appears to be public domain land ownership data with remote imaging in an Internet accessible GIS. Although each of the databases alone are fairly innocuous, linking them in a GIS and then making it globally available makes the sum far more dangerous than the parts. Tim Churches Sydney, Australia .