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Entries by Annett Laube

Smart Cities and the Data Challenge: Balancing Innovation with Privacy

Smart cities promise to revolutionize urban life through data-driven solutions, but at what cost? While cities worldwide implement sensors and AI to optimize everything from traffic to energy, new ethical challenges emerge around privacy and surveillance. What are «smart cities»? The “smart city” initiative involves using various types of electronic sensors in urban areas to […]

Synthetic Mobility Data: The Future of Smart Urban Planning

Smart cities, optimized traffic, and autonomous vehicles all depend on one crucial resource: mobility data. But how can we harness this power while protecting privacy? Synthetic mobility data offers a compelling solution by creating artificial yet statistically accurate movement patterns without tracking real individuals. Our research team at Bern University of Applied Sciences explores the […]

Never consent without a clear purpose: the only one way to save self-determination

Consent to the use of mobility data means permission for the collection, storage, and use of personal data. The necessity of such consent is a fundamental requirement in the use of data. Why is informed consent crucial to ethical and responsible business and how does it correlate with the purpose of data usage? These are […]

Overcoming User Resistance in Location Data Sharing

We investigate whether and how sustainability and financial incentives encourage ethical location data sharing. Our results show that users do not share their location data for the sake of sustainability. Nevertheless, we find that financial incentives increase data sharing rates modestly. Thus, when asking for data sharing in a transparent and ethical manner, privacy concerns […]

Putting ethical principles into practice: the Posmo Ethics Board

The use of mobility data raises ethical challenges that go beyond technical and economic concerns. The Institute for Data Applications and Security IDAS has developed an ethical framework for Posmo as part of the InnoSuisse project. This framework guides Posmo’s ethics board to ensure responsible data handling. By emphasizing human empathy, sociocultural awareness, and transparency, […]