Privacy, security, liberty : informing the design of emergency management information systems

Faced with life-threatening circumstances, many people would consider a loss of privacy a small price to pay for swift assistance. However, how societies handle, and how individuals can be aware of, and control, personal data are highly sensitive and consequential matters, deeply entangling security, privacy and liberty with technological potential. The design of emergency management systems (EMIS) and architectures for the assembly of emergency management systems of systems should be sensitive to challenges, opportunities and dangers. In this paper we explore key issues and some design avenues.