Today I found out that it's actually a lot easier to contribute to Open Street Map than I thought. There are some serious gaps in house addresses in my area and I was painstakingly using the built in browser editor in the browser.

But, you can use a FOSS app (available on fdroid) called StreetComplete that makes it a lot easier to help out filling in the gaps in your local map data.

It's really fun - kind of like Pokémon Go but you are actually making an impact 😁

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[–] Zacryon@feddit.de 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

I don't really know or use Open Street Map, so I wonder:

Can everyone just manipulate the map data? Is there some sort of control mechanism or is it easy to incorporate fake data?

I'm asking because this seems to be a really fallible concept, where people with malicious intents would have an easy way to disturb Open Street Map.

[–] Rhllor@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

Yes and no. If I remember correctly, it was pokemon go utilizing OSM for the kind of Pokemon you could find in a given area which led to some manipulation. You could probably also get away with changing or hiding something in Nowhere, Idaho.

The bigger issue is probably outdated data. Shops or restaurants in urban areas change fairly quickly, it's quite hard to keep up with those.

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