Data collected by Google under its Mapathon project could take some more time to be uploaded for users.  

Major General R.C. Padhi, Additional Surveyor General, said that information gathered by Google had to be vetted by the necessary authorities to ensure the protection of security sensitive areas.

 Padhi, while criticising Google for their breach of rules with regard to the Google Mapathon competition, also hinted that Government may liberalise policy on mapping and other location-based services in the future.

Speaking at the Location Based Services Conference organised by FICCI and the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Padhi said that “while the rules maybe irritating, they still need to be followed.” The Survey of India had no problem with the mapping of other areas that were not of strategic relevance.

Lalitesh Katragadda, Country Head for India Products, Google India, also speaking at the conference, responded that Google India was in consultation with the Survey of India and other stakeholders to ensure that sensitive data are not published.

Google Mapathon was a competition organised by Google to encourage people to identify places of interest on Google Maps and hence improve the quality and usefulness of Google Maps. The competition ran into trouble after the Survey of India registered a police complaint against Google for not taking prior permission for the competition and for mapping vital areas and placing their map information in the public domain.

According to the Survey of India, the competition was detrimental to national security, and would induce citizens to unknowingly break the law. Parliament had discussed the controversy, while several members of Parliament, such as Tarun Vijay, had criticised Google for violating the law and endangering the country’s strategic assets. Arguing that Google’s aim was simply to ensure ease of access for users in navigation and locations of service, Katragadda said the controversy likely erupted due to the revolution in mapping software, which had far outpaced the current regulations that needed to be looked at.

He said that Google had already provided data to the various Government agencies and that Google would fully comply with national guidelines and rules.  Katragadda also spoke about the business and financial impact of location-based services when combined with mapping software.

He stated that Google Maps had ensured that over 1.5 billion people worldwide have access to accurate maps, which helped businesses in improving targeting and marketing strategies and allowed various organisations to work to improve local social and economic conditions through the use of the free software.

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