7/24/2013

Google Mapathon 2013 Results Delay due to SOI Investigation

Google organized the first ever mapping contest in India called Mapathon. It started in February and ended in the end of March.


We've some hot news on the Mapathon India 2013 results
http://deepakweblog.blogspot.in/2013/07/mapathon-results-delay.html

The contest results were to be published on 23rd July 2013 as stated on the terms and condition page of the contest here : https://www.google.com/mapmaker/mapathon/india2013/policies 

The participants eagerly waited for the day but they were surprised to see no results on the contest page, neither there were any notice which would have at least gave the participants a sign of relief.

From the beginning of this contest, there were numerous security concerns about confidential data leaks through this contest. The Survey of India (SOI) was not okay with the competition as they believed it might lead to security problems. Read a complete overview of the case here :
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/google-didnt-take-permission-for-mapathon/article4648589.ece

The competition ended on 25th March 2013 and it was a great contest indeed. The results were to announce on 23rd of July but yet there's no sign of results anywhere, that's what contestants are worried about.

The reason behind the delay of results is now in front of us. I got this notice about the result delay from Google India :

Dear Mapathon participant -

It is the 24th of July and all of us are eagerly looking forward to announcing the winners of our first ever nationwide Mapathon! We are eager to recognize the winners while celebrating the work done by all of you as a large community that cares for your neighborhoods. However, we are sorry to inform you that we all have to wait just a bit longer for reasons explained below.

As you may know, towards the end of the Mapathon, the Survey Of India (SOI) had expressed concerns over the data added during the contest. Specifically, the SOI wanted to review the data that was added during the Mapathon to make sure that it is safe to publish without revealing information that it considers sensitive. Towards this end, we had provided them the data that was added during the Mapathon, but have not yet heard back.

Since we can move forward only after receiving their approval, we are unfortunately not in a position to announce the results of the Mapathon yet, as originally planned. When we do hear back from the SOI, we will announce the results of the contest.

We feel your disappointment. Indeed, we were hoping that we would be in a position to announce our winners today, which is the reason we did not pro-actively put out any notification about a potential delay. We will continue to persistently follow up with SOI and hope to announce the results at the earliest.

Sincerely,
The Mapathon 2013 Team

(C) 2013 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

It is now clear why there's a delay in the results. But what do you think, is SOI being over-sensitive ? Yup, I think so. They must have a little common-sense. If map maker is available without any contest why do they think they have potential security threats only through this contest ? Aren't they trying to get in the NEWS and pretend to be active ? God knows, but let us hope that SOI complete its duty in time and we could get to see the result at least.

Please write your opinion in the comments. Thanks.
Deepak Kamat Blogger Guwahati
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He is a web designer and deveveloper by profession but loves to write about his city and interesting acitvities going on in it.

Writes small stories from small places in Guwahati and tries to help develop it with his blog.