The Geospatial Web promises a wealth of cool new applications that will map people and objects from real space into cyberspace. Users will be able to connect with each other, learn about their environment, and find products and services they are interested in linked to their current location. This is an exciting proposition but it poses significant privacy risks. The recent public uproar when Google and other search companies were asked to reveal search terms to the government demonstrates that users demand privacy in the things that they look for on the Web. This expectation will only increase when the Geospatial Web links their online activity to their location in real space. People may want to find stuff--but will they be equally willing to be found?

This talk will explain aspects of current U.S. law that protect users' location and online privacy, and areas where the law fails and technology must step in. If the builders of geospatial tools fail to embrace privacy-promoting design, the potential of next-generation web applications may never be realized. However, thinking about this at the inception of this new location-based technological frontier, and designing an architecture that protects user privacy, will pay off in the long run as people are more willing to embrace cool new tools knowing their privacy will be protected.