15 Legal Liability
15.1 Epstein, Hunter and Agumya (1998) explored the issue of legal liability and the requirement for liability insurance in relation to the use of spatial information. Some of the key points that they make are:
15.1.1 Due to the growing awareness of uncertainty inherent in spatial information there is now ‘considerable potential’ for litigation and for the loss of both personal and organisational reputation and integrity arising from error in spatial information.
15.1.2 It is argued that traditional disclaimers added to products may not be a strong defense in the event of litigation.
15.1.3 Spatial information may be misused and abused by organisations who acquire a data set without understanding the purpose of the dataset and the methods used to capture it.
15.1.4 An approach that is starting to appear in the spatial information industry is for organisations to seek some form of insurance protection to manage their risk and liability in the event of litigation.
15.1.5 This insurance protection may place strict guidelines on the procedures and industry standards that an organisation is required to follow.
15.1.6 In order to limit their liability, organisations may be required to maintain amongst other things, a high level of quality documentation that adequately and truthfully labels their products to the ‘best of their ability and knowledge’.
15.2 This summary barely touches on the issues covered by Epstein, Hunter and Agumya (1998). It is recommended that readers follow up with research of their own to determine their organisation’s exposure to potential litigation relating to the uncertainty present in their spatial data.
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