Institute of Geography, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780, Bochum, Germany.
Int J Health Geogr. 2021 Aug 28;20(1):40. doi: 10.1186/s12942-021-00290-0.
Various applications have been developed worldwide to contain and to combat the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this context, spatial information is always of great significance. The aim of this study is to describe the development of a Web GIS based on open source products for the collection and analysis of COVID-19 cases and its feasibility in terms of technical implementation and data protection.
With the help of this Web GIS, data on this issue were collected voluntarily from the Cologne area. Using house perimeters as a data basis, it was possible to check, in conjunction with the Official Topographic Cartographic Information System object type catalog, whether buildings with certain functions, for example residential building with trade and services, have been visited more frequently by infected persons than other types of buildings. In this context, data protection and ethical and legal issues were considered.
The results of this study show that the development of a Web GIS for the generation and evaluation of volunteered geographic information (VGI) with the help of open source software is possible. Furthermore, there are numerous data protection and ethical and legal aspects to consider, which not only affect VGI per se but also affect IT security.
From a data protection perspective, more attention needs to be paid to the intervention and post-processing of data. In addition, official data must always be used as a reference for the actual spatial consideration of the number of infections. However, VGI provides added value at a small-scale level, so that valid information can also be reliably derived in the context of health issues. The creation of guidelines for the consideration of data protection, ethical aspects, and legal requirements in the context of VGI-based applications must also be considered. Trial registration The article does not report the results of a health care intervention for human participants.
世界各地已开发出各种应用程序来控制和应对 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行。在这种情况下，空间信息始终具有重要意义。本研究的目的是描述一种基于开源产品的 Web GIS 的开发，用于收集和分析 COVID-19 病例，并从技术实现和数据保护的角度评估其可行性。
借助这个 Web GIS，从科隆地区自愿收集了关于这个问题的数据。使用房屋边界作为数据基础，可以结合官方地形制图信息系统对象类型目录，检查具有特定功能的建筑物（例如带贸易和服务业的住宅建筑）是否比其他类型的建筑物更频繁地被感染者访问。在这方面，考虑了数据保护和伦理法律问题。
本研究的结果表明，借助开源软件为生成和评估自愿地理信息（VGI）开发 Web GIS 是可行的。此外，有许多数据保护和伦理法律方面需要考虑，这些不仅影响 VGI 本身，还影响 IT 安全。
从数据保护的角度来看，需要更加关注数据的干预和后处理。此外，必须始终将官方数据用作感染人数实际空间考虑的参考。然而，VGI 在小规模层面提供了附加值，因此在卫生问题背景下也可以可靠地得出有效信息。必须考虑在基于 VGI 的应用程序的背景下制定考虑数据保护、伦理方面和法律要求的指南。试验注册本文未报告针对人类参与者的医疗保健干预措施的结果。
