Side note...
> Google maps or even OSM are never going to be authentic maps endorsed by an
>official source.
I disagree. Humanitarian organizations regularly use OpenStreetMap in published
maps. Various governments are using and contributing to OSM (this is a good
one: http://www.nps.gov/npmap/blog/introducing-park-tiles.html), and there's
active work to figure out how to "authenticate" endorsed versions of objects in
OSM.
* Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron
>________________________________
> From: Arun Ganesh <arun.plane...@gmail.com>
>To: OpenStreetMap in India <talk-in@openstreetmap.org>
>Sent: Friday, April 5, 2013 4:42 PM
>Subject: Re: [Talk-in] Police investigating Google's mapathon
>
>
>I did read about an opposition party MP raising concerns about this, but was
>not aware of what is happening. The whole citizen mapping treading on SOI's
>territory has been a concern at the back of my mind and I'm curious to know
>what comes out of this.
>
>
>I find three interesting perspectives to the issue:
>Authenticity
>If you are crowdsourcing map making, how do you guarantee it is accurate? You
>can't!
>Imagine the military or any security establishment using a crowdsourced map
>for the basis of its operation, it would be silly without doing an independent
>ground survey to authenticate the data. Google maps or even OSM are never
>going to be authentic maps endorsed by an official source. At the end, SOI,
>Google Maps and Openstreetmap are all going to have different maps, so which
>one do you trust? The one from the government funded by tax money, or the one
>from a bunch of unpaid citizens who can do whatever they want?
>
>
>Security
>The main concern is obviously maps being used as a resource by an enemy to
>compromise a target. If one were an enemy of the state, which maps would you
>use for your evil mission?
>SOI: They hide military areas, but they also have accurate information on a
>lot of other areas including topography and the data is verified by the
>Government.
>Google and OSM: Maps created using citizen volunteers who can only collect
>what is already publicly available. There is limited moderation and verifying
>of data. This raises questions about accountability and accuracy of the
>dataset and there is nobody who can guarantee it. Would one use a crowdsourced
>map or an official map for a critical operation?
>
>
>Monopoly
>Planning of most human activities requires some sort of geographic information
>and in India, with so many people, it's going to be extremely valuable
>information. History has shown us that those with better maps stays in
>control, and we are having this dogfight of who control's the better map - the
>government or the people?
>
>
>;
>I find the whole Citizen Mapping vs Security argument laughable. If the
>security establishment is compromised because of information that can be
>gathered from the public domain from unverified sources, where exactly is the
>security compromise? It looks like the State has just been caught sleeping
>with it's old cash cow while the world has moved on.
>
>
>
>
>
>On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 10:56 PM, Ishan Chattopadhyaya
><ichattopadhy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>Its companies like Google that defame community mapping efforts like ours.
>First they try StreetView, which turns Govt. suspiscious about their motives
>and then whatever they do is eyed with suspicion. Anyway, I am not overly
>disappointed or sad; Perhaps, I'm just happy.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 10:29 PM, Pradeep Mohandas
>><pradeep.mohan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>The similarity exists in that OpenStreetMap also has people, ordinary people,
>>collecting this data and uploading it on OpenStreetMap. The modus operandi is
>>similar.
>>>
>>>Also, the Delhi Police is acting on a complaint lodged by the Survey of
>>>India that exerts its right as the sole map maker in India. Isn't that in
>>>conflict with what we're doing on OSM too?
>>>
>>>I learnt and contributed to Google Maps before I did to OSM. It was on
>>>Google Maps that I learnt about OSM. I feel kinda sad with this community
>>>taking this approach. Mappers must be able to contribute to any platform
>>>that they wish to. I think this case sorta threatens that freedom.
>>>
>>>Anyway, that's just me.
>>>
>>>warm regards,
>>>Pradeep
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>On 5 April 2013 22:19, Shekhar Krishnan <shek...@topomancy.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>This is about Google's private data collection efforts, not OSM's public
>>>map-building. No need for us in OSM to worry about the Delhi Police. :)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>S.K.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>On Friday 05 April 2013 10:05 PM, Pradeep Mohandas wrote:
>>>>
>>>>hi,
>>>>>
>>>>>Are people on this list carefully avoiding discussing this? -
>>>>>http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Delhi-Police-investigating-Google-Mapathon/articleshow/19398857.cms
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
warm regards, Pradeep
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>-- How Pradeep uses email - http://goo.gl/6v1I9
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>_______________________________________________ Talk-in mailing list
>>>>> Talk-in@openstreetmap.org
>>>>>http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-in
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>--
>>>>
>>>>Shekhar Krishnan
>>>>Topomancy LLC
>>>>
>>>>http://shekhar.cc
>>>>http://topomancy.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>Talk-in mailing list
>>>>Talk-in@openstreetmap.org
>>>>http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-in
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>--
>>>How Pradeep uses email - http://goo.gl/6v1I9
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Talk-in mailing list
>>>Talk-in@openstreetmap.org
>>>http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-in
>>>
>>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>
>
>
>--
>
>Arun Ganesh
>(planemad)
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>
>
>
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