As stated by E. Slonecker, D. Shaw and T. Lillesand in 1998:

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 of imagery and imagery-derived information generally away from government and into the private sector. Third, the development of a digital, global information infrastructure, 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. (Extracted from the abstract of their article in PERS.)

Since they wrote that article in 1998 tools such as Google Earth, Google's Street View, and many more have become common-place technologies, although even then (in 1998) few truly anticipated the rapid pace with which they would develop. Therefore, it is important that you become acquainted with the moral and ethical issues surrounding remote sensing, since the technology has become so pervasive in society. In today's lecture we will discuss the issues.

Some interesting links:

• Remote sensing and environmental treaties (SEDAC) (A report of SEDAC's workshop.)
• Google Earth and conservation
• Does Google Earth obscure images? (Slate article)
• Google street view: An issue? (Engineering ethics blog)
• Remote sensing and human rights
• A review of how ethics are incorporated into remote sensing courses.
• George Clooney's Satellite Sentinel Project's report on Sudan border conflicts
• The AAAS's Remote Sensing for Human Rights Program
• A decision by the Canadian Supreme Court WRT remote sensing (PDF)
• An article from Antipode on remote sensing (PDF)
• An article reviewing 40 impacts of new technologies (PDF)
• The Penn State GeoSpatial Revolution video on Mapping the road to peace.

Text: Nothing relevant on this topic.