Data Working Group/DWG Activity Report Q3 2019

From OpenStreetMap Foundation

DWG Activity Report for Q3, 2019

Statistics

Dwg-cases-q3-2019.png

380 tickets were created in OTRS in this quarter (120 of these were copied from the web site issue tracker). Issues of minor importance are sometimes handled directly in the web site issue tracker and will therefore not be counted.

A total of 526 messages were received in the context of these tickets, and 1269 messages and memos were written by DWG members.

51 tickets were follow-on tickets to older issues, 19 were discarded as spam. 290 tickets created in this quarter were closed, and additionally, 63 tickets from previous periods were closed.

The median time for the first (non-automated) response to tickets was 18 hours.

11 DWG members were active in the quarter (90% of cases were handled by the five busiest members).

The majority of tickets were handled in English (304), but we also used the languages German (16), Russian (14), and French (7). (We will also often include auto-translated versions of English messages in responses.)

Generally, all these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt because edge cases can be mis-counted in our statistics. Also, due to reorganisation or cleaning out of old information, it is possible that previous quarters shown in the above graph differ slightly from the numbers published at the time.

Comment and Notable Issues

Nagorno-Karabakh

Occasionally, a particular territorial dispute escalates. In this quarter, OpenStreetMap must have been featured in some media read by politically active citizens of Azerbaijan since we received several dozen complaints about naming and boundaries around Nagorno-Karabakh (the self-described "Artsakh Republic"), an area that is the object of a dispute betweeen Azerbaijan and Armenia. (Among the complainants was the UK Embassy of Azerbaijan.) Most of them suffered from the misconception that OSM listed Nagorno-Karabakh as a sovereign state and were put at ease by our pointing out that it only carries an admin_level=3 boundary. This may be partly due to some web maps and applications showing admin_level=3 objects in a very similar way to admin_level=2 ones.

In general, if people are unhappy with OSM "taking sides" in some international conflict, we point to our "disputed territories" document on the OSM Foundation website and explain how the "on-the-ground rule" is designed to work. We sometimes also explain how it is possible to set up a tile server that uses different boundaries or languages, often by linking to one that already exists.

"Official" Hiking Trails

In a lengthy dispute in Europe, an official from the national hiking association was involved in an edit war with a long-standing, if outspoken, member of the community. The hiking association had "corrected" many trails in the mountains, claiming that their data was superior because they were using expensive surveying equipment. They demanded that any future edits to these trails be run by them for release, but at the same time made a few mistakes (including copying "official" names that did not correspond to what was actually on the signs), leading the OSM mapper to revert their contributions outright. Like so often, both parties were a little right and a little wrong.

In cases like this, the DWG tries to calm everyone down initially; edits in OSM can be made with patience. If someone does something wrong, it does not have to be reverted immediately - there is time for discussion, and a revert can still follow later. We try to understand everybody's side, tell them that we see their point, but at the same time we have stern words for both sides of the conflict if it turns out that they haven't behaved well. We also try to clear up misunderstandings like the idea that new contributions could be run by someone to authorize them. In the most successful cases we can get both sides of such a conflict to actually meet in person and lay their fight to rest - after all they mostly want the same thing, a good map.

List of Cases

closed tickets from previous periods
Created Type Region Action
2016-04-06 other
2016-12-01 poor mapping Asia reverted
2017-01-04 copyright Canada changeset commented, no action needed
2017-09-24 copyright Democratic People's Republic of Korea changeset commented, redacted, reverted
2017-11-13 request for help or information Philippines other
2018-01-01 other Canada other
2018-01-31 copyright DPRK community contacted
2018-03-26 other USA changeset commented
2018-05-04 other
2018-05-15 user dispute or no response USA block issued
2018-07-30 poor mapping Spain no action needed
2018-10-16 3rd party complaint about data England advice given
2018-12-01 poor mapping Colombia no action needed
2018-12-01* poor mapping Germany no action needed
2018-12-15* poor mapping Phillipines block issued, reverted
2019-01-14 vandalism Brazil advice given
2019-01-22* user dispute or no response India block issued
2019-02-10 misdirected complaint Australia advice given
2019-02-15 policy violation Philippines community contacted
2019-02-19* poor mapping USA advice given, block issued, reverted
2019-02-20 policy violation Indonesia block issued
2019-03-22 user dispute or no response USA advice given, block issued, reverted
2019-03-23 vandalism Romania block issued, reverted
2019-03-29 user dispute or no response Russia no action needed
2019-03-30* poor mapping Sweden advice given, block issued, changeset commented
2019-03-31* vandalism Saudi Arabia advice given, block issued
2019-04-19* user dispute or no response Iran advice given, block issued, changeset commented
2019-05-01 policy violation Germany: Berlin community contacted, map edited
2019-05-09 request for help or information n/a community contacted
2019-05-20 policy violation Italy advice given, community contacted
2019-05-21* user dispute or no response Iran block issued
2019-05-21 user dispute or no response Ukraine advice given, block issued
2019-05-25* user dispute or no response Venezuela advice given, block issued, changeset commented
2019-05-26* user dispute or no response Colombia block issued
2019-05-27 policy violation Indonesia block issued
2019-05-27 policy violation Sri Lanka block issued, redacted, reverted
2019-06-01 policy violation Worldwide block issued, reverted
2019-06-03 other USA advice given
2019-06-05 user dispute or no response Latvia advice given
2019-06-08 policy violation Austria reverted
2019-06-11 other
2019-06-12 poor mapping Ukraine block issued
2019-06-12 poor mapping Romania advice given
2019-06-14 user dispute or no response USA block issued
2019-06-17* poor mapping Worldwide block issued
2019-06-18 other USA
2019-06-18* poor mapping UK advice given
2019-06-18 privacy issue Canada community contacted, map edited
2019-06-20* other Italy no action needed
2019-06-22* request for help or information USA advice given
2019-06-22* copyright Malaysia block issued, redacted
2019-06-24 request for help or information Western Sahara advice given
2019-06-24* user dispute or no response Worldwide changeset commented
2019-06-24* poor mapping Australia changeset commented, hiding of notes or comments
2019-06-24 request for help or information USA advice given
2019-06-25 request for help or information Australia advice given
2019-06-25 vandalism Azerbaijan block issued, changeset commented, reverted
2019-06-26* poor mapping Ukraine reverted
2019-06-26 request for help or information New Zealand advice given
2019-06-27 user dispute or no response USA advice given
2019-06-28* other Brazil advice given
2019-06-29 user dispute or no response UK advice given, block issued, changeset commented
2019-06-29 poor mapping Germany community contacted
closed tickets from this period
Created Type Region Action
2019-07-01 request for help or information Ireland advice given
2019-07-01 poor mapping Palestine map edited
2019-07-01* poor mapping Russia block issued
2019-07-02* vandalism Russia block issued
2019-07-03* other Russia no action needed
2019-07-03* request for help or information UK hiding of notes or comments
2019-07-03* poor mapping Russia other
2019-07-03* user dispute or no response Italy block issued
2019-07-03 user dispute or no response UK advice given, block issued
2019-07-04 request for help or information Cambodia advice given, block issued
2019-07-04 request for help or information UK advice given
2019-07-05 request for help or information Ukraine no action needed
2019-07-05 poor mapping Romania reverted
2019-07-06 request for help or information Azerbaijan advice given, reverted
2019-07-08 vandalism Romania changeset commented, reverted
2019-07-08 user dispute or no response Austria advice given
2019-07-09 request for help or information n/a advice given
2019-07-09* user dispute or no response Unknown advice given
2019-07-09* poor mapping Egyot advice given
2019-07-09* user dispute or no response Croatia advice given
2019-07-10* other Russia advice given
2019-07-10* user dispute or no response Russia advice given
2019-07-10* user dispute or no response Russia map edited
2019-07-11* other China advice given
2019-07-11 request for help or information France advice given
2019-07-11 poor mapping Germany no action needed
2019-07-11 user dispute or no response Germany advice given, block issued
2019-07-11 international dispute Israel advice given
2019-07-12 user dispute or no response Germany block issued
2019-07-12 poor mapping Poland changeset commented
2019-07-13 user dispute or no response UK advice given, block issued, changeset commented
2019-07-14* poor mapping Turkey changeset commented
2019-07-14 poor mapping Canada changeset commented, reverted
2019-07-14* other China advice given
2019-07-14 poor mapping UK advice given, block issued, changeset commented, reverted
2019-07-14* poor mapping Moldova block issued, changeset commented, reverted
2019-07-15* user dispute or no response Russia no action needed
2019-07-15 user dispute or no response Germany block issued
2019-07-16* other USA advice given
2019-07-16* user dispute or no response Poland no action needed
2019-07-17 poor mapping
2019-07-17 request for help or information n/a advice given
2019-07-17 other USA-Oregon map edited
2019-07-18 privacy issue USA advice given
2019-07-18 privacy issue Ireland changeset commented, map edited
2019-07-19* other Ukraine
2019-07-19* other Guatemala no action needed
2019-07-20 poor mapping Germany block issued
2019-07-20 poor mapping Germany block issued
2019-07-21 poor mapping
2019-07-21* other Austria no action needed
2019-07-21 vandalism Germany changeset commented
2019-07-21 request for help or information Germany advice given
2019-07-22* poor mapping New Zealand block issued, reverted
2019-07-22* poor mapping Russia advice given, hiding of notes or comments, other
2019-07-22 copyright Russia changeset commented, redacted, reverted
2019-07-22 request for help or information Russia no action needed
2019-07-23 user dispute or no response Kazakhstan block issued, reverted
2019-07-24 user dispute or no response USA block issued
2019-07-24 request for help or information Turkey advice given
2019-07-26 international dispute Crimea advice given
2019-07-27 request for help or information
2019-07-27* poor mapping USA block issued
2019-07-27* poor mapping USA block issued
2019-07-27* poor mapping Iran advice given
2019-07-27 poor mapping USA advice given
2019-07-27* poor mapping Iran block issued
2019-07-28 other Congo block issued, reverted
2019-07-28* other India advice given
2019-07-28 request for help or information Cuba map edited
2019-07-28 other Germany other
2019-07-29 privacy issue Germany hiding of notes or comments
2019-07-29 other India advice given
2019-07-29 vandalism USA advice given, block issued
2019-07-29* poor mapping Vietnam advice given
2019-07-29 user dispute or no response USA advice given
2019-07-30 request for help or information
2019-07-30 poor mapping USA advice given, changeset commented
2019-07-31 other Russia no action needed
2019-07-31 request for help or information Germany advice given, no action needed
2019-08-01 misdirected complaint
2019-08-01 user dispute or no response Germany block issued
2019-08-01 policy violation China block issued, reverted
2019-08-02 user dispute or no response Uniteed Kingdom block issued
2019-08-03 policy violation Germany no action needed
2019-08-03 other USA community contacted
2019-08-03* user dispute or no response Global block issued, changeset commented
2019-08-04* user dispute or no response Global block issued
2019-08-04* other China hiding of notes or comments
2019-08-04* poor mapping Paraguay
2019-08-04* user dispute or no response Algeria block issued
2019-08-04* vandalism N/A other
2019-08-04 other
2019-08-05* other Ukraine no action needed
2019-08-05 user dispute or no response Cambodia advice given, block issued, reverted
2019-08-05* poor mapping Russia advice given
2019-08-05* user dispute or no response USA advice given
2019-08-05* user dispute or no response Germany hiding of notes or comments
2019-08-05* poor mapping Myanmar advice given
2019-08-05* user dispute or no response Iran block issued, reverted
2019-08-05 user dispute or no response Cameroon block issued
2019-08-06 copyright Italy block issued
2019-08-06 other
2019-08-06 vandalism Turkey no action needed
2019-08-06 policy violation Zambia block issued
2019-08-07* other Russia no action needed
2019-08-07 policy violation United Kingdom block issued
2019-08-08 copyright Russia block issued, redacted
2019-08-09* other Norway advice given
2019-08-09 3rd party complaint about data Italy: South Tyrol advice given, map edited
2019-08-09 user dispute or no response Germany block issued
2019-08-09 copyright Russia block issued, reverted
2019-08-09 3rd party complaint about data UK advice given, map edited
2019-08-09 other no action needed
2019-08-10* other Romania advice given
2019-08-11* other Algeria advice given
2019-08-11* other Belarus advice given
2019-08-11* other Georgia advice given
2019-08-11 poor mapping Worldwide advice given
2019-08-11 user dispute or no response Slovenia block issued, community contacted
2019-08-11 vandalism USA block issued, map edited, other
2019-08-12 other
2019-08-13* other Belarus advice given
2019-08-13 other Russia hiding of notes or comments
2019-08-13* user dispute or no response Russia no action needed
2019-08-15 request for help or information England map edited
2019-08-15* user dispute or no response Russia advice given
2019-08-15* user dispute or no response Russia block issued
2019-08-15 3rd party complaint about data UK map edited
2019-08-15 vandalism USA block issued, reverted
2019-08-15 poor mapping China reverted
2019-08-15 poor mapping China no action needed
2019-08-15 poor mapping n/a hiding of notes or comments
2019-08-16* other Italy advice given
2019-08-16 other USA map edited
2019-08-16* other China advice given
2019-08-16 copyright Russia block issued, changeset commented, redacted
2019-08-17 privacy issue USA no action needed
2019-08-17* request for help or information Spain advice given
2019-08-17* poor mapping Spain advice given, changeset commented
2019-08-17* poor mapping Sri Lanka advice given
2019-08-17* user dispute or no response Japan advice given, block issued
2019-08-18 poor mapping USA advice given
2019-08-18* request for help or information China advice given
2019-08-18* poor mapping China advice given
2019-08-18* poor mapping Brazil advice given
2019-08-18 user dispute or no response Worldwide block issued
2019-08-18* user dispute or no response Poland advice given, block issued, changeset commented
2019-08-18 request for help or information Germany: Berlin advice given
2019-08-18 other advice given
2019-08-19 request for help or information Germany hiding of notes or comments
2019-08-19 request for help or information France hiding of notes or comments
2019-08-20 policy violation Worldwide community contacted
2019-08-20 vandalism Worldwide block issued
2019-08-20* policy violation USA block issued, changeset commented
2019-08-20 request for help or information England no action needed
2019-08-20 poor mapping Moldova advice given, changeset commented
2019-08-21 request for help or information Worldwide advice given
2019-08-21* request for help or information Iraq advice given
2019-08-21 user dispute or no response USA advice given
2019-08-21* request for help or information Iran advice given
2019-08-21* user dispute or no response Worldwide advice given
2019-08-22* poor mapping Finland block issued
2019-08-22 misdirected complaint USA no action needed
2019-08-22 request for help or information USA advice given
2019-08-23 user dispute or no response Latin America advice given, changeset commented, community contacted, reverted
2019-08-23 request for help or information USA advice given
2019-08-23* vandalism Russia advice given
2019-08-23 other
2019-08-24 request for help or information UK hiding of notes or comments
2019-08-24 user dispute or no response USA block issued, reverted
2019-08-24 request for help or information Poland advice given
2019-08-25 privacy issue Canada advice given
2019-08-25* poor mapping Indonesia advice given
2019-08-25* poor mapping Brazil advice given
2019-08-25* user dispute or no response Austria advice given
2019-08-25* request for help or information Iran advice given
2019-08-25 request for help or information Germany map edited
2019-08-25 poor mapping Russia block issued, changeset commented, reverted
2019-08-25* other Belarus no action needed
2019-08-27 vandalism Japan block issued, reverted
2019-08-27 policy violation Europe changeset commented, reverted
2019-08-27* request for help or information Iran advice given
2019-08-28* other Ukraine advice given
2019-08-28 user dispute or no response Curacao
2019-08-28 copyright Panama no action needed
2019-08-28 poor mapping Canada block issued
2019-08-28 other Algeria no action needed
2019-08-28 user dispute or no response global advice given
2019-08-28* other Russia no action needed
2019-08-28 request for help or information USA advice given
2019-08-30 policy violation India advice given, changeset commented, reverted
2019-08-30* request for help or information Barents Sea advice given
2019-08-31* user dispute or no response Worldwide advice given
2019-08-31* poor mapping Turkey advice given
2019-08-31 policy violation Finland community contacted
2019-09-01* other Russia no action needed
2019-09-01 copyright UK changeset commented, redacted, reverted
2019-09-02 misdirected complaint Latvia no action needed
2019-09-03* poor mapping USA changeset commented
2019-09-04 international dispute Nagorno Karabakh advice given, changeset commented, reverted
2019-09-04 international dispute Artsakh Republic advice given
2019-09-04* poor mapping USA advice given
2019-09-05 request for help or information USA: Chicago advice given, changeset commented
2019-09-05* other Indonesia advice given
2019-09-05* vandalism Iceland advice given
2019-09-05* poor mapping Paraguay advice given
2019-09-06* poor mapping Russia block issued, changeset commented, reverted
2019-09-06* vandalism Worldwide advice given, block issued
2019-09-06 poor mapping Unknown advice given
2019-09-06* spam n/a advice given
2019-09-06* poor mapping Iran advice given
2019-09-06* poor mapping Israel block issued
2019-09-07* spam Turkey block issued
2019-09-07* vandalism Brazil changeset commented, reverted
2019-09-07* poor mapping Malaysia advice given
2019-09-07* poor mapping Italy advice given
2019-09-08* user dispute or no response Ukraine no action needed
2019-09-08 copyright USA no action needed
2019-09-08 user dispute or no response Germany advice given
2019-09-08 request for help or information n/a advice given
2019-09-08 misdirected complaint USA advice given
2019-09-08 policy violation Peru block issued
2019-09-09 3rd party complaint about data Germany map edited
2019-09-09 policy violation Worldwide advice given, block issued
2019-09-10 international dispute India advice given
2019-09-10 poor mapping USA advice given, block issued
2019-09-10* copyright Russia block issued, changeset commented
2019-09-10 privacy issue Syria map edited
2019-09-10 vandalism Cyprus block issued
2019-09-10 vandalism USA no action needed
2019-09-10 vandalism Portugal block issued
2019-09-11 3rd party complaint about data Berlgium community contacted
2019-09-11 poor mapping USA advice given
2019-09-11 poor mapping USA advice given
2019-09-12* poor mapping Indonesia advice given
2019-09-12 request for help or information n/a advice given
2019-09-12 privacy issue France redacted
2019-09-12 vandalism Germany reverted
2019-09-12 vandalism Germany reverted
2019-09-12 privacy issue Iraw block issued, redacted, reverted
2019-09-12* user dispute or no response Russia other
2019-09-12 poor mapping Russia block issued
2019-09-13 policy violation USA advice given, block issued, changeset commented, community contacted, reverted
2019-09-13 other Jamaica no action needed
2019-09-14 3rd party complaint about data Germany: Berlin advice given, community contacted, map edited
2019-09-17 poor mapping Brazil advice given, block issued, reverted
2019-09-17* vandalism Russia block issued, changeset commented
2019-09-17* user dispute or no response Russia changeset commented
2019-09-18 request for help or information USA advice given
2019-09-18 request for help or information n/a advice given
2019-09-18 misdirected complaint USA no action needed
2019-09-18 user dispute or no response
2019-09-18 vandalism France block issued
2019-09-18 poor mapping England no action needed
2019-09-19 other Russia no action needed
2019-09-19 request for help or information Lebanon advice given
2019-09-19* poor mapping Iran advice given
2019-09-19* poor mapping Mexico advice given
2019-09-20 request for help or information North Macedonia advice given
2019-09-20 vandalism Russia block issued, reverted
2019-09-21 privacy issue USA, Texas advice given
2019-09-22* poor mapping Brazil block issued
2019-09-22* poor mapping India advice given, block issued
2019-09-22* poor mapping Italy block issued
2019-09-22* vandalism Indonesia block issued, reverted
2019-09-22* poor mapping Iran advice given
2019-09-22* request for help or information USA advice given
2019-09-22* request for help or information Japan advice given
2019-09-22* request for help or information Poland advice given
2019-09-22* user dispute or no response Iran advice given
2019-09-23 vandalism New Zealand block issued, reverted
2019-09-23* vandalism Ukraine block issued, reverted
2019-09-24 vandalism USA block issued
2019-09-24 vandalism USA changeset commented
2019-09-24 user dispute or no response USA no action needed
2019-09-24 user dispute or no response
2019-09-24 policy violation UK advice given
2019-09-25 other worldwide advice given
2019-09-26* other China advice given
2019-09-26 vandalism France block issued
2019-09-27 misdirected complaint France advice given
2019-09-27* user dispute or no response Russia block issued
2019-09-27 user dispute or no response Iran no action needed
2019-09-28 copyright China changeset commented
2019-09-28 request for help or information UK advice given
2019-09-28 vandalism Germany block issued, reverted
2019-09-29 other Netherlands hiding of notes or comments
2019-09-29* user dispute or no response Russia block issued
2019-09-29* other France no action needed

* an asterisk behind the date marks tickets that were created from web site "issues".

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