What should I do with data which I suspect have been copied without permission?
A new mapper did a series of 25 edits to roads and road names in my vicinity last April, reportedly based on “GPS data” and, in one cases, “Google online”. Then the mapper disappeared and has not responded to messages.
I grew suspicious when I encountered new details which didn’t match reality (in some cases they matched plans that have not been completed yet or erroneous TIGER data that I had deleted earlier). These were the kinds of errors that would be hard to make if the mapper had actually been on location. Some roads were private access roads where the mapper couldn’t have been without trespassing. I’m afraid that in this case, “GPS data” might not mean “GPS track of the mapper’s route” but “copied from the map on a GPS device”. But I have no proof.
I have probably edited many of the same roads before I realized the problem. Today when I saw more roads with gross errors, I deleted them and remapped them from scratch using Bing aerial imagery, GPS tracks and surveyed signage. I should probably do this whenever I see a road created by this mapper. Is this the right approach?