Google Workers Caught ‘Vandalizing’ Open Source Maps

“Google said that two people behind the accounts were
contractors using machines on Google’s network, but a spokesperson
for the search giant added that these contractors were ‘acting on
their own behalf.’ The spokesperson also said that the contractors
are ‘no longer working on Google projects.’

“The accusation from OpenStreet Map follows a widely reported
incident in which users behind a Google IP address in India were
caught scraping data from a Kenyan online business directory called
Mocality. Last week, Google apologized for the incident. Then, on
Monday evening, Mikel Maron, an OpenStreetMap (OSM) board member,
told Wired that users had been vandalizing OpenStreetMap from the
same IP address range in India.

“After Maron spoke with Wired, he, project founder Steve Coast,
and OSM sysadmin Grant Slater published a blog post making the same
accusation, saying that two accounts behind the IP address range
had been deleting map data, reversing the direction of one-way
streets, and maliciously altering other information since Thursday
of last week. Mocality’s blog post appeared on Friday.”

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