Abstract

Locative data is data that identifies a person’s precise location in a specific moment in time, allowing for evidence-based interpretations of who was doing what, when and where. Such tracking already happens regularly as a part of ubiquitous smartphone use. In journalistic contexts, with relative ease, this data can provide detailed documentation about events – connecting people, actions, and settings – in unprecedented thoroughness and complexity, even without informed consent. Locative data also can create significant threats to personal privacy, legal due process, and ethical norms along the way. To determine how journalists, conceptualize the emergence and power of locative data, this research turns to organizational codes of ethics, as representative of public discourse in the field. This content analysis explored such discourse in more than 50 major U.S. news organizations, including examinations of public policies and terms of service. This analysis shows that fewer than half of the largest U.S. news organizations even publicly share a code of ethics, conveying transparency and leadership issues throughout the field. The implications of this research also highlight the lack of clear policies and guidelines for how such data should be handled, protected, and ethically used by journalists.

摘要

定位数据是识别一个人在特定时刻的精确位置的数据，可以对谁在做什么、何时何地进行基于证据的解释。作为无处不在的智能手机使用的一部分，这种跟踪已经经常发生。在新闻背景下，即使没有知情同意，这些数据也可以相对轻松地以前所未有的彻底性和复杂性提供有关事件的详细记录——将人员、行动和环境联系起来。定位数据还会对个人隐私、法律正当程序和道德规范造成重大威胁。为了确定记者如何概念化定位数据的出现和力量，本研究转向组织道德准则，作为该领域公共话语的代表。该内容分析探讨了 50 多家美国主要新闻机构的此类言论，包括对公共政策和服务条款的审查。这项分析表明，只有不到一半的美国最大新闻机构公开分享道德准则，在整个领域传达透明度和领导力问题。这项研究的意义还凸显出，对于记者如何处理、保护和合乎道德地使用此类数据，缺乏明确的政策和指南。