Digital geodata traces – new challenges for geographic education

Young people in modern societies consciously (e.g. Facebook) or unconsciously (e.g. some Google services) produce a vast amount of geodata. Using relational databases, private companies are capable of creating very precise profiles of the individual user and his/her spatial practices from this data. This almost inevitably prompts questions regarding data protection and privacy issues. In this paper, a conceptual approach is presented on how students can develop competencies regarding their personal geodata management and which challenges this subject matter implies for research in geographic education.