Reverse geocoding uses coordinates to find street addresses or geographic features. It complements standard geocoding, which maps features and assigns coordinates. Navigation and outdoor enthusiasts use it, but it can also raise privacy concerns when combined with other geographic systems.
Reverse geocoding is the process of using latitude and longitude coordinates to find specific geographic features or street addresses. This process is the opposite of the more common geocoding method. In standard geocoding, features and roads are first mapped and then assigned a coordinate. Reverse geocoding fills in the blanks in the standard geocoded coordinate information, so it only takes a few points to find a location.
The process of standard geocoding and reverse geocoding go hand in hand. Using standard geocoding techniques, the start and end point of a road have exact latitude and longitude coordinates. Geocoding software plots the street in a mapping program and the user enters the first and last address in the area. Using reverse geocoding, the program extrapolates the street numbers of houses along the mapped street using coordinates and relative location.
Reverse geocoding is considered an important step in many navigation technologies. Things like in-vehicle navigation and enhanced 911 service rely on reverse geocoding to estimate the location of destinations. Very few areas have every house on every street geocoded, so the services rely on inverted information to locate the vehicles’ destination point. The inverted position may be several meters from the actual position, but is usually close enough for a person to find the true position by normal means.
This process is also useful for lovers of the outdoors. I am able to find their coordinates and use them as a base point. Information about known sites near that point is then relayed back to them. This makes it easy to find known spots, like a fishing spot or hiking trail, that have already been found with standard geocoding. With a comprehensive geographic information system at your disposal, you can also find other nearby places of interest, such as a highway or river.
As with many geographic information systems, reverse geocoding has seen its share of controversy. Using pre-existing maps, you can locate people or areas you didn’t intend to find. Many forms of confidential studies and experiments rely on the subjects’ relative proximity to each other or a central point. In these studies it is not uncommon to publish maps showing the locations of the subjects. These maps intentionally have few features, but when fed through a reverse geocoding process, the location of the subject can be pinpointed.
When this capability is combined with other geographic systems, the problems become more pronounced. Anonymous locations of people and places are relatively easy to find; thus, information culled from public information can find even more on the subject. This can allow people to easily monitor others and learn their shopping or driving habits.
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