Emerging legal and ethical issues in advanced remote sensing technology

Fundamental changes are taking place in the world of remote sensing with respect to three primary developments. First, a new generation of space-borne sensors will be able to deliver high spatial and spectral resolution imagery on a global basis. Technical advances are making previous restrictions on data scale, resolution, location, and availability largely irrelevant. Second, economic restructuring of the remote sensing community will transform the control and distribution ofimagery and imagery-derived information generally away from government and into the private sector. Third, the development of a digital, global information infirastructure, such as the Internet, will allow for rapid global distribution of information to a worldwide user community. The combined effects of these developments could have significant legal and ethical consequences for all remote sensing professionals. For example, remote sensing technology could soon develop the capability to generate and deliver a level of information detail that could violate common societal perceptions of individual privacy, and a number of direct legal and ethical consequences could result. This paper reviews the legal background of remote sensing and current developments in satellite surveillance and information technology, and outlines a number of legal and ethical issues that could be of future concern to the remote sensing community. Self regulation of the profession is central to maintaining the appropriate balance between the rights of the individual and the economic interests of the remote sensingcommunity and the nation as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]