Google and India have had a pretty rough relationship when it comes to the former's mapping data in the country. From erroneously geotagging parts of India as parts of neighboring countries to being disallowed from deploying its "Street View" vehicles on Indian roads, the company which rules the Indian mobile market share is having a hard time building a rapport with the government where its mapping data is concerned.
In an attack against the service, Surveyor General of India, Swarna Subba Rao said that the maps used by Google weren't "authentic" and were "unreliable" with limited accuracy. She also stressed on how Survey of India's own mapping data was qualitatively more accurate.
Business Standard reported Rao as saying:
"If you talk about the authentication, the Google Maps is not authenticated. It hasn't been produced by the government, so they aren't authenticated.
If you are using Google Maps to reach a restaurant or park, even if you reach 50 meters close to that place, you are happy. But when we have to put a new railway line or make canals, that is where our topographic maps come in, when you require very accurate, engineering quality data."
While their website doesn't really exude quality, a senior official did admit that they were working on "some glitches with the website". This rather unexpected attack can be seen as a microcosmic example of the pushback that several governments seem to be undertaking against third-party apps such as Google's. The objective is to keep sensitive information away from parties that may otherwise exploit it. The subcontinent also proposed a legislation to ban unapproved map and satellite data last year for similar reasons.
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