Skip to main content
Log in

Every step you take, we’ll be watching you: nudging and the ramifications of GPS technology

  • Open Forum
  • Published:
AI & SOCIETY Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The increasing use of geographic information systems (GIS) in everyday life is profoundly shaping how humans navigate and interact with their surroundings. Behavioural and ethnographic experimental research indicates that increased usage of GPS devices is having a significant impact on human neurocognitive systems, especially memory and perception (Gramann et al. 2017). Despite this, there has only been a limited investigation of the implications of the spread of GIS technologies. In this paper, we explore how habitual reliance on GPS technology undermines autonomous decision-making through “nudging” (Sunstein and Thaler 2008)—that is, the alteration of psychological behaviour without the explicit forbidding of choice. In particular, we make a novel distinction between what we refer to as “suggestive nudging”—the suggesting of certain routes to take to get to a destination—and “disclosure nudging”—the normalisation of constant tracking and disclosing of our locations to government and corporate actors. We shall argue that although suggestive and disclosure nudging are in principle separate, that in practice they are intertwined in the design of modern GPS devices. Additionally, since human spatial cognition is highly plastic and susceptible to being sculpted by cultural practices (Hutchins 1995; Levinson 2003), this exacerbates the negative implications of the ‘in practice’ link of suggestive and disclosure nudging by making the latter harder to avoid and opt-out of. We argue that this state of affairs necessitates re-designing GPS devices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We acknowledge that there are a range of other Geographic Information Systems (GIS)—such as the increasing amount of RFID cards in travel cards, bank cards, passports and ID cards, on shipping containers, etc.—which also raise similar quandaries to those that we raise in this paper about the politics of wayfinding technologies. We focus on GPS devices for several reasons. Firstly, a comprehensive discussion of these other technologies would require too much space for a single article. Secondly, the argument we intend to make here is focused on how GPS devices currently work in smartphone technologies. And lastly, the ubiquity of smartphones in our everyday lives entails that this is the most important point at which to discuss interventions and needs for change in GIS design and choice architecture.

  2. It is notable that this way of thinking about measuring and interacting with space is often seen as the default due to a Western-centric focus in psychology (Henrich et al. 2010). But there are numerous examples of alternative frames of references and wayfinding orientational methods that do not have discrete metrics of temporal duration nor spatial distance: e.g. see Hutchins (1995) discussion of Polynesian nautical navigation; and Chao’s (2017) account of wayfinding in Western Papua.

  3. In regards to the notion of deskillment it has been argued by Brown and Laurier (2012) that learning to use a GPS device to navigate does not entail total deskillment since one learns new sets of skills in the proper use of the device. They further point out that the evolution and invention of new technologies always entails the general loss of skills associated with abandoned and replaced technologies; and the emergence of new skills associated with the new technologies. As Gillett and Heersmink (2019) note, this is indeed a core and distinctive feature of human cultural evolution—the streamlining of previous cognitive work to ease the cognitive load of the following generations. But, in the case of GPS devices, the loss of skills here demands our attention because it is linked to undermining certain intellectual virtues, such as autonomy. See Gillett and Heersmink (2019) for further discussion.

  4. Epistemic virtues are defined as knowledge generating capacities that enable reliable and truth-conducive behaviour and thinking. The epistemological literature divides epistemic virtues into faculty based features (e.g. perception, memory, etc.), and character based traits (e.g. open mindedness, intellectual autonomy, etc.). Intellectual autonomy does not entail a sole reliance on oneself. Virtue approaches are based on Aristotelian philosophy and see virtues as balances between extremes. For example, open mindedness is a balance or mean between close minded dogmatism and credulity. As such, a virtuous epistemic agent with intellectual autonomy is one who can rely on their own judgement to assess the testimony of others and various epistemic tools. See Gillett and Heersmink (2019) for more details.

  5. Indeed, in relation to the first concern mentioned above about disclosure nudging, several theorists have noted that RFID cards play a large role in normalising and habituating people into being constantly tracked. For instance, in regards to their increasing presence in schools, Bray (2014, p. 225) notes that “Perhaps the most troubling aspect is that constant tracking of students conditions young people to expect similarly intrusive surveillance as adults”. Gillom and Monahan point out that “students are ‘normalised’ to this surveillance—it becomes commonplace, unquestioned, and unremarkable” (cited in ibid).

  6. We thank an anonymous reviewer for raising this issue with us.

  7. Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Retrieved from https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00292; The General Data Protection Regulation 2016. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679; The California Consumer Privacy Act 2018. Retrieved from https://iapp.org/resources/article/california-consumer-privacy-act-of-2018/.

References

  • Allen JS (2015) Home: how habitat made us human. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Aporta C, Higgs E (2005) Satellite culture: global positioning systems, Inuit wayfinding, and the need for a new account of technology. Curr Anthropol 46(5):729–753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bengtsson L, Lu X, Thorson A, Garfield R, von Schreeb J (2011) Improved response to disasters and outbreaks by tracking population movements with mobile phone network data: a post-earthquake geospatial study in Haiti. PLoS Med 8(8):e1001083. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boulos K (2011) Crowdsourcing, citizen sensing and sensor web technologies for public and environmental health surveillance and crisis management: trends, OGC standards and application examples. Int J Health Geogr 10(67):1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Bray H (2014) You are here: from the compass to GPS, the history and future of how we find ourselves. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown B, Laurier E (2012) The normal, natural troubles of driving with GPS. In: CHI 2012. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems. 2012 edn, vol. ACM Association for Computing Machinery, Austin, Texas, USA, May 5–10, pp 1621–1630

  • Burnett GE, Lee K (2005) The effect of vehicle navigation systems on the formation of cognitive maps. In: Underwood G (ed) Traffic and transport psychology: theory and application. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 407–418

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadwalladr C, Graham-Harrison E (2018) Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach. theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/Cambridge-Analytica-facebook-influence-us-election. Accessed 3 Apr 2020

  • Chao S (2017) “There are no straight lines in nature”: making living maps in West Papua. Anthropol Now 9(1):16–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark A (2003) Natural born cyborgs: minds, technologies, and the future of human intelligence. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark A (2007) Re-inventing ourselves: the plasticity of embodiment, sensing, and mind. J Med Philos 32:263–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Commonwealth of Australia The Australian Privacy Act 2018. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A03712. Accessed 3 Apr 2020

  • de Montjoye YA, Hidalgo CA, Verleysen M, Blondel VD (2013) Unique in the crowd: the privacy bounds of human mobility. Sci Rep 3:1376. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Montjoye Y-A, Radaelli L, Kumar Singh V, Pentland A (2015) Unique in the shopping mall: on the reidentifiability of credit card metadata. Science 347(6221):536–539. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1256297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deville P, Linard C, Martine S, Gilbert M, Stevens FR, Gaughan AE, Blondel VD, Tatem AJ (2017) Dynamic population mapping using mobile phone data. PNAS 111(45):15888–15893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dreyfus HL (1995) Being-in-the-world: a commentary on Heidegger’s being and time, division I. MIT Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Eagle N, Pentland A, Lazer D (2009) Inferring friendship network structure by using mobile phone data. PNAS 106(36):15274–15278. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0900282106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission The General Data Protection Regulation 2016. https://gdpr-info.eu/. Accessed 3 Apr 2020

  • Fabry RE (2017) Cognitive innovation, cumulative cultural evolution, and enculturation. J Cognit Cult 17(7):375–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finger F, Genolet T, Mari L, Constantin de Magny G, Manga NM, Rinaldo A, Bertuzzo E (2016) Mobile phone data highlights the role of mass gatherings in the spreading of cholera outbreaks. PNAS 113(23):6421–6426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault M (1977) Discipline and punish: the birth of the prison. Penguin Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Frazier EF, Easton RA (2013) GPS declassified. Potomac Books Inc, Lincoln

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillett AJ, Heersmink R (2019) How navigation systems transform epistemic virtues: knowledge, issues and solutions. Cognit Syst Res 56:36–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golledge R, Garling T (2008) Cognitive maps and urban travel. In: Hensher DA, Button KJ, Haynes KE, Stopher PR (eds) Handbook of transport geography and spatial systems, 3rd edn. Bingley, Emerald, pp 501–512

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman S (2018) NSA Officers spy on love interests, Wall Street J, August 23rd 2018, blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/08/23/nsa-officers-spy-on-love-interests. Accessed 3 Apr 2008

  • Gramann K, Hoepner P, Karrer-Gauss K (2017) Modified navigation instructions for spatial navigation assistance systems lead to incidental spatial learning. Front Psychol 8(193):1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald G (2014) No place to hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and U.S. Surveillance State. Metropolitan Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Henrich J, Heine SJ, Norenzayan A (2010) The weirdest people in the world? Behav Brain Sci 33:61–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins E (1995) Cognition in the wild. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingold T (2000) The perception of the environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishikawa T (2016) Maps in the head and tools in the hand: wayfinding and navigation in a spatially enabled society. In: Hunter RH, Anderson LA, Belza BL (eds) Community wayfinding: pathways to understanding. Springer, New York, pp 115–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishikawa T, Montello G (2006) Spatial knowledge acquisition from direct experience in the environment: individual differences in the development of metric knowledge and the integration of separately learned places. Cognit Psychol 52:93–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishikawa T, Fujiwarab H, Imaic O, Okabe A (2008) Wayfinding with a GPS-based mobile navigation system: a comparison with maps and direct experience. J Environ Psychol 28:74–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen BS, Skov MB, Thiruravichandran N (2010) Studying driver attention and behaviour for three configurations of GPS navigation in real traffic driving. In: Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Human factors in computing systems, ACM, pp 1271-1280

  • Jonas J (2016) Big data. New physics. And geospatial superfood. In: Conference Presentation at “from big data to analytics, fusion and information extraction”, MIT Forum—Recanati Business School, Tel Aviv University, 12.3.14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qubbhcEPJI. Accessed 1 Nov 2018

  • Kahneman D (2011) Thinking fast and slow. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan D (2016) Overwhelming number of smartphone users keep location services open. Geomarketing. https://geomarketing.com/overwhelming-number-of-smartphone-users-keep-location-services-open. Accessed 28 Mar 2020

  • Kroese FM, Marchiori DR, de Riddler DT (2016) Nudging healthy choices: a field experiment at the train station. J Public Health 38(2):133–137. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdv096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar S, Moore KB (2002) The evolution of global positioning system (GPS) technology. J Sci Educ Technol 11(1):59–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanzing M (2018) “Strongly recommended” revisiting decisional privacy to judge hypernudging in self-tracking technologies. Philos Technol 34:234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-018-0316-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lengen C, Kristemann T (2012) Sense of place and place identity: review of neuroscientific evidence. Health Place 18:1162–1171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leshed G, Velden T, Rieger O, Kot B, Sengers P (2008) In-car GPS navigation: engagement with and disengagement from the environment. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems. Florence

  • Levinson SC (2003) Space in language and cognition: explorations in cognitive diversity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Levy N (2017) Nudges in a post-truth world. J Med Ethics 43:495–500. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2017-104153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li B, Zhu K, Zhang W, Wu A, Zhang X (2013) A comparative study of two wayfinding aids with simulated driving tasks—GPS and a dual-scale exploration aid. Int J Hum-Comput Interact 29(3):169–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menary R (2012) Cognitive practices and cognitive character. Philos Explor 15(2):147–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menary R (2015) Mathematical cognition: a case of enculturation. In: Metzinger T, Windt JM (eds) Open MIND. MIND Group, Frankfurt am Main, pp 1–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Menary R, Gillett AJ (2017) Embodying culture: integrated cognitive systems and cultural evolution. In: Kiverstein J (ed) The Routledge handbook of philosophy of the social mind. Routledge, New York, pp 72–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Milner G (2016) Pinpoint: how GPS is changing our world. Granta Publications, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Minaei N (2014) Do modes of transportation and GPS affect cognitive maps of Londoners? Transp Res A 70:162–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Mosco V (2015) To the cloud: big data in a turbluent world. Routledge, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Munzer S, Zimmera HD, Schwalma M, Bausb J, Aslan I (2006) Computer-assisted navigation and the acquisition of route and survey knowledge. J Environ Psychol 26:300–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Dea S (2020) Smartphone users worldwide 2016-2021. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/. Accessed 3 Apr 2020

  • Ratti C, Frenchman D, Pulselli RM, Williams S (2006) Mobile landscapes: using location data from cell phones for urban analysis. Environ Plan B 33:727–748. https://doi.org/10.1068/b32047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards NM (2013) The dangers of surveillance. Harvard Law Rev 2012–2013:1934–1965

    Google Scholar 

  • Scannell L, Gifford R (2010) Defining place attachment: a tripartite organizing framework. J Environ Psychol 30:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silver L (2019) Smartphone ownership is growing rapidly around the world, but not always equally. Pew Research Centre. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/02/05/smartphone-ownership-is-growing-rapidly-around-the-world-but-not-always-equally/. Accessed 3 Apr 2020

  • Song C, Qu Z, Blumm N, Barabási A-L (2010) Limits of predictability in human mobility. Science 327(5968):1018–1021

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Sunstein C (2015a) The ethics of nudging. Yale J Regul 32(2):413–450

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunstein C (2015b) Nudges, agency, and abstraction: a reply to critics. Rev Philos Psychol 6:511–529

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunstein C (2015c) Nudges do not undermine human agency. J Consum Policy 38:207–2015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunstein C (2018) “Better off as judged by themselves”: a comment on evaluating nudges. Int Rev Econ 65:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunstein C (2019) On freedom. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sunstein C, Thaler R (2003) Libertarian paternalism. Am Econ Rev 93(2):175–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susser D, Roessler B, Nissenbaum HF (2019) Technology, autonomy, and manipulation. Internet Policy Rev. https://doi.org/10.14763/2019.2.1410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thaler R, Sunstein C (2008) Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmis MA, Bijl H, Turner K, Basevitch I, Taylor MJD, van Paridon KN (2017) The impact of mobile phone use on where we look and how we walk when negotiating floor based obstacles. PLoS ONE 12(6):e0179802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vugts A, Van Den Hoven M, De Vet E, Verweij M (2020) How autonomy is understood in discussions on the ethics of nudging. Behav Public Policy 4(1):108–123. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2018.5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson TM (2013) Nudging and manipulation. Polit Stud 61(2):341–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woods D (2010) Rethinking the power of maps. The Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Zickuhr K (2012) Three-quarters of smartphone owners use location-based services. Pew Research Centre. http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2012/PIP_Location_based_services_2012_Report.pdf. Accessed 10 Oct 2019

  • Zuboff S (2019) The age of surveillance capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. Public Affairs, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the audience at the Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy held at the University of Western Sydney 2018 for the helpful discussion following a presentation of this work. We would also like to thank Daphne Brandenburg, Brigid Martin, Thomas Corbyn, Marilyn Stendera, and the anonymous reviewers for feedback. Alexander Gillett would also like to thank Richard Heersmink, Graham Thomas, and McArthur Mingon with whom they are collaborating on related research projects that have contributed to this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William Hebblewhite.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hebblewhite, W., Gillett, A.J. Every step you take, we’ll be watching you: nudging and the ramifications of GPS technology. AI & Soc 36, 863–875 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-020-01098-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-020-01098-5

Keywords

Navigation