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first of all is OSM secure? for example if i want to delete whole town can i do it? what if someone crazy registers and will erase everything?

asked 07 Jul '13, 21:07

gluidori4e's gravatar image

gluidori4e
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edited 07 Jul '13, 21:35

aseerel4c26's gravatar image

aseerel4c26 ♦
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Please only ask one question in one "question" on this site, I have remove the second question for more clarity. Regarding your question about bing coverage please see that other already answered question.

(07 Jul '13, 21:39) aseerel4c26 ♦

Please see that other question about OSM's data-verification-process. To answer your question in short: If "someone crazy registers and will erase everything" we can revert/undo (a task for rather experienced users) those changes. Also there are many backups of our database.

I do not know if there is, in addition, some server-side block if someone would attempt to delete / edit more than for example 100000 objects - could be (please do not try it).

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answered 07 Jul '13, 21:45

aseerel4c26's gravatar image

aseerel4c26 ♦
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edited 07 Jul '13, 21:49

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There is a limit of 50000 nodes+ways+relations in a single changeset, as described in the api docs and visible in this api call. So it would take a long time for somebody to do extensive damage.

(08 Jul '13, 11:06) Vincent de P... ♦

The short answer is: No, OSM is not secure. Then, you might get in a philosophical discussion on what security means in this context. Do you mean "Can someone hack the database and permanently rename every town to PENIS?" - I'd say no. Just look at Wikipedia, where it is not possible to permanently do much damage either. All open community projects have to deal with vandalism, but the problem is not very large and some small measures (like having to create an account to be able to edit) restrict it very much.

Then, if you mean "Can I blindly trust what is on the map? Can I depend on the map for live-or-death-decisions?", the answer is also no, but this holds for any map. Say you are chased down a street by a couple of hungry utahraptors/velociraptors, and chose OSM as the means to not land in a dead end (quite literally ;) ), then depending on the area you might find OSM very incomplete or very complete. And you will leave the raptors either very hungry or very well fed.

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answered 09 Jul '13, 11:14

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gormo
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Better try to avoid the raptors in the first place.

(09 Jul '13, 11:54) scai ♦
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question asked: 07 Jul '13, 21:07

question was seen: 4,358 times

last updated: 09 Jul '13, 11:54

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