04/03/2016
Orient yourself before you start your trip, print a map, or push the button.
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"These cases shed light on the software's susceptibility to errors and hacks. Google Maps is built on layers on information obtained from satellite images as well as photographs taken by Street View cars, which have driven and photographed more than 7 million miles of roads. Google also crowdsources location information through Map Maker, which allows users to directly update local addresses and details. An unknown number of people are employed by the company to comb through these maps for inaccuracies.
But despite this multifaceted system, location bugs and mistakes still happen. Trolls and pranksters have taken advantage of the crowdsourced feature by changing businesses to offensive names or by doodling on the map interface. One showed the mascot for Google's mobile operating system, Android, urinating on the Apple logo in an area of Pakistan.
More explicit hacks have also proved that Google Maps is easily accessible to outsiders. Bryan Seely revealed vulnerabilities in Google Maps in 2014 when he hacked into Google Map's business listings and changed the phone number for the San Francisco FBI office and Washington, D.C., Secret Service. In a Gizmodo article, Seely described a world of con artists who exploit the feature's vulnerabilities with ease by switching business listings and conning unsuspecting callers. He blames Google's less-than-stellar verification system. "Who is gonna think twice about what Google publishes on their maps? Everyone trusts Google implicitly and it's completely unwarranted and it's completely unsafe," Seely told Valleywag in an interview last year. He also mentioned that he has been paid by companies like Microsoft to spam Google Maps in the past.
Then there's the human error element, such as the case of American tourist, Noel Santillan, who drove six hours in the wrong direction in Iceland through wintery conditions due to a small spelling error he entered into Google Maps. For those misguided Mt. Rushmore tourists, even a large metal sign instructing them to turn around couldn't deter them from total GPS obedience. Some researchers have suggested that GPS dependence is becoming more and more common, and are worried about unforeseen effects. Are we collectively losing our learned sense of direction?"
A Google Maps error has been sending tourists seeking "Mt. Rushmore, SD" to the wrong location for nearly five years now. Storm Mountain Center, a retreat center located some 13 miles from the real Mt. Rushmore, has repeatedly asked Google Maps to update the Mt. Rushmore address. But whate…
