EthicalGEO is proud to partner with the Benchmark Initiative to launch the Locus Charter, a set of guidelines promoting the ethical and responsible use of location data around the world. 

The Locus Charter stemmed out of a partnership between EthicalGEO and the Benchmark Initiative first made in 2019.  Over the course of the last year and a half, Benchmark and EthicalGEO established a network of interested individuals and organizations working to advance the applications of ethical location data collection. We hosted ten workshops in different regions around the world to gain global perspectives on what it means to use location data responsibly. 

Eventually, we came away with ten founding principles to present to the public for further input and refinement:

1. Realize opportunities,
2. Understand impacts,
3. Do no harm,
4. Protect the vulnerable,
5. Address bias,
6. Minimize intrusion,
7. Minimize data,
8. Protect privacy,
9. Prevent identification of individuals, and,
10. Provide accountability.

Last week, a series of geospatial industry leaders came together to discuss the history, suggest applications, and chart the future of the initiative. The panel included Dr. Nadine Alameh of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), Ms. Lisa Allen at Ordnance Survey, Mr. Ed Parsons of Google, Mr. Olivier Thereaux at the Open Data Institute (ODI), Ms. Denise McKenzie and Mr. Ben Hawes, Co-Directors of the Benchmark Initiative, and Dr. Christopher Tucker our chair at American Geographical Society (AGS). If you missed the event check it out here: