MapSafe: A complete tool for achieving geospatial data sovereignty |
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Authors: | Pankajeshwara Sharma Michael Martin David Swanlund |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;2. Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada |
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Abstract: | Sensitive geographic data are invaluable assets for the people to whom they belong and their disclosure should be decided by the sovereign data owner (SDO). Due to several high-profile data breaches and business models that commercialize user data, the need for new approaches to geoprivacy and data sovereignty has grown. We propose MapSafe, a client web application that first obfuscates datasets using donut masking or hexagonal binning, separately, and thereafter implements a multi-level encryption scheme that permits SDOs to share the final encrypted volume containing the geospatial information when they choose and at a level of detail which they are comfortable. The authenticity verification of the volume is facilitated by storing the hash value corresponding to the encrypted volume immutably on the Blockchain as a public record. Our approach places geoprivacy under data guardians'’ control, and its integration capabilities promote its adoption in existing and future geospatial web systems. |
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