Update: A statement in Parliament is non-committal on why exactly the complaint was filed, except that the Mapathon was without permission. In our opinion (detailed below), India's Maps policy is regressive and bureaucratic, leaving little scope for innovation, with little focus on consumers and the benefits that easy access to maps bring. The statement in Parliament: Impact of Mapathon on Security M/s Google, without any approval from any agency of the Government of India, conducted the Mapathon 2013 Competition to encourage participants to map their neighbourhood and places they ‘care about’ within the geographical boundaries of India. From national security point of view, civil and military Vital Areas (VAs)/Vital Points (VPs) cannot be shown in the map/data published in public domain. Surveyor General of India on 21.3.2013 wrote to M/s Google to stop the competition. A Police Complaint has also been lodged by Survey of India at R.K. Puram PS, New Delhi against M/s Google. This was stated by Shri R.P.N.Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs in written reply to a question by Shri R.Thamaraiselvan in the Lok Sabha today. April 8th 2013: Last week, the Survey of India, the official survey and mapping organization in India, filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against Google for hosting its Mapathon contest, which encourages Indians to add information to maps. According to reports - see Business Standard and the Economic Times - they said that the Mapathon 2013 is likely to jeopardize India's national security interests and…
