Abstract: Space technology is an important driver of economic growth, and data from outer space provides a better life for ordinary people. One of the outstanding benefits of space data is remote sensing. Earth’s surface is continuously scanned by hundreds of remote sensing satellites, capturing images and data every minute of every day. Those satellite images and data are vital sources for spatial information technology. Although the technology has been used in many fields, the legal aspects related to its use have not been thoughtfully discussed. Especially, the issues regarding the role of international law and national law in protecting states from cross-border data availability and challenges to the use of technology and its data collection. This research paper addresses these issues by investigating the impact of technical and legal challenges on the stakeholders of spatial information technology. The study employs an analysis of the applicable laws regarding the use of spatial information technology and its societal aspects. The results reveal that access rights, privacy, intellectual property rights, and liability are major legal challenges to the government agencies, private entities and individuals, who are becoming both consumers and producers of spatial information technology. The applicable law to the use of spatial information technology is cyber law, also known as information technology law. Remote sensing law is related to the process of collecting space data for spatial information technology. Current threats from space data arise from its inherently local identification and dual-use. International law chooses not to prohibit space data processing if the data is anonymous and includes location information collected at a purely local level. Therefore, to mitigate risks from the use of spatial information technology, governments identify the use of spatial information as the subject of national law to provide regimes for data restriction and control. There are distinct different roles and interactions between international law and national law that govern data control, cross-border data flows and national security concerns. The findings underscore that regulatory solutions to the challenge of cross-border data flows are legal reform and a multilateral cooperation framework. One of the significant findings is that the state should align its neutral policy and represent awareness of mutual trust or open communication while making data available across borders. The success in developing a trusted framework for cross-border data flows relies on the state’s role at the international level. In conclusion, the authors opine that the impact and implications of the use of spatial information technology present similar legal challenges to the use of artificial intelligence and location intelligence, which lie in the responsibility of a data controller or the controllers who make decisions about processing activities.

Key words: space data, spatial information law, cyber law, information technology law, artificial intelligence and location intelligence