Geographical Information Systems and the Law: Mapping the Legal Frontiers

By the millennium most government departments and businesses will rely on some sort of GIS to conduct their everyday activities. The power and speed of such a tool in planning, research and managing spatial databases is invaluable. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the legal implications of GIS are as convoluted as those raised by the Internet.

This is already becoming a field which is stretching legal systems around the world to their limit. Users, practitioners, developers, and custodians of data need a clear guide. This book, avoiding technological and legal jargon, clarifies the issues of the rights, limitations, and responsibilities of GIS. Geographic Information Systems and the Law addresses the legal relations between those who provide data and those who use the data.

Areas covered include:-

• the legal regimes and economic aspects of GIS
• contract law governing information technology
• data and information in a digital age
• legal liabilities — damages, negligence, and standards of care
• public access and ownership of information
• privacy and security issues — intellectual property and copyright
• nternational law and the globalisation of information technology