Security Issues for Indiana GIS Data

Research Areas: Assured Identity and Privacy, Policy, Law and Management,

Principal Investigator: Eugene Spafford

The State of Indiana is the repository for (and collector of) a significant amount of spatial data. There is a growing need for well-articulated government policy about the public release of such data as a method for communicating government data and information. Much of the related discussion to-date has focused on the data at the individual layer level and whether the data should be sold or not. Additional discussion should be focused on the protection of personal identifiers contained in such data and the potential for exposing both Indiana citizens and corporations to privacy violations. Purdue proposes a study of the services provided by the use of spatial data and, in particular, of the security implications when multiple data layers are joined as a method for advanced communication of geospatial data. This study will lead to policy recommendations for the State of Indiana that will promote the appropriate balance between public information benefits and personal privacy risks. It will also advance the state of the art and practice of information security in general.

Personnel

  • Eugene Spafford
  • Lorraine Kisselburgh
  • Jennifer Kurtz
  • Randy Bond

Keywords: GIS, global information system, policy, spatial data, homeland security, privacy, geospatial