2. Streetcomplete and
#OpenstreetmapsOn the topic of
#geolocation , there's another FOSS project that relies on community submissions to build a privacy preserving map
let's face it, Google Maps is the most solid, polished and convenient maps app out there, it offers detailed business listings, phone numbers, open hours, photos and reviews, Streetview (which OSM lacks), live traffic, routing algorithms with turn by turn navigation.. Etc.
But as it's the case with proprietary software, convenience comes at a cost, a cost that no one can afford, loss of privacy.
Most people fail to recognize how sensitive location data is, how it's used against them and how it can be abused in the future.
if I ask.. where were you on February 9, 2012, at 3 o'clock? you have no clue, you can't even remember what you had for dinner last night! me too :-) our brains can't recall events with time and location with such great precision, if you can.. you must be Charles Xavier from X-Men :-P
But you know who can remember? Google. the Ad company profiles individuals by tracking queries, routes, and interactions, it records your movements by a feature called location history which is turned on by default, even when you don't use the app, your movements are still logged, heck.. even if you turn off location history altogether, Google keeps on tracking you.. this should tell you how much valuable location data is for E-Corp, where you work or study, what you're planning to buy, where you go for entrainment.. etc. all used to create a profile so that the surveillance machine can target you with ads..
The brightside is that we don't have to use a surveillance tool like Google Maps, OrganicMaps is a free and open source software that respects your privacy, does not collect or transmit your location, search history, or usage data and it encourages you to use it offline by letting you know that you have to download maps for your area.
Organic Maps uses OpenStreeMaps which is also free software, but as I mentioned it's not as rich as Google Maps in terms of data. :-(
Which brings us to Streetcomplete, a FOSS android app designed to make contributing to OpenStreetMap easy. It's really like a real life game and I find it fun, It uses a simple question and answer interface to gather missing OpenStreeMaps details like: surface types of paths, opening hours of shops, speed limits.. etc
Submitted data will appear on OpenStreeMaps, so all users of apps like @
[email protected] and @
[email protected] can benefit from :-)
If you're interested in volunteering to help us make a
#freedom map so we don't live our lives under the constant surveillance of
#bigbrother Google, check out the following links:
-
https://streetcomplete.app/-
https://www.openstreetmap.org-
https://organicmaps.app-
https://www.comaps.app/ #opensource #geolocation #linux #programming #coding #technology #geoip #software #gis #openstreetmap #tech #github #iot #data #security #opensourceprojects #geotagging #locationdata #mapdata #opendata #fdroid #neostumbler #location #surveillance #privacy #street #streetcomplete #google 
