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Third party node submission

1

Hi, i would like to let users of my app to add nodes without registering to openstreetmap. So basically the adding request are done with my openstreetmap username but from a third party.

Is this a feasible/admitted by OSM? If yes, any suggestion to API documentation are welcome.

Thanks

asked 26 Apr '15, 18:34

xenoky's gravatar image

xenoky
26●1●1●2
accept rate: 0%

One Answer:

7

We don't like this for several reasons:

  • OSM mappers would not have a way to get in touch with people adding data; messages, changeset discussions etc. would all end up in your personal account.
  • Some of your users might contribute copyrighted or otherwise problematic content, and it could become difficult to separate the good from the bad.
  • You would gain undue influence on what your users map - e.g. because you design the software, you could make sure they only use tags you like and nobody could tell them.
  • People contributing to OSM through your app might not even know that they are OSM contributors; they wouldn't be part of "our" community but of "yours".

It's not completely impossible and exceptions have been made in the past but don't bank on it. Rather, explore how you can use OAuth to let your users seamlessly log in with OSM and then your application can perform edits on their behalf.

answered 26 Apr '15, 20:26

Frederik%20Ramm's gravatar image

Frederik Ramm ♦
82.5k●92●720●1273
accept rate: 23%

edited 26 Apr '15, 20:26

Source code available on GitHub .