Ethical implications of technical limitations in GIS

A geographic information system (GIS) allows g a user to combine digitized data sets from multiple sources to produce a customized map. Like traditional paper maps, GIS maps should be accurate. Unlike traditional maps, however, technical limitations raise new ethical issues for geographic information systems. These technical limitations include unavoidable inaccuracies introduced by the digitization of continuous data, the projection of three-dimensional data onto a two-dimensional plane, and incompatibilities of data sets stored in different formats. Consistency checks and technical standards may mitigate the harmful consequences of these technical limitations.