(moving this to its own thread…)
this was an oversight on our part. just like station view, a station’s location will be obfuscated on all maps always. only when the user has designated their station location to be visible will the station information be accurate, but only in the meta-data file.
more details of how this will be implemented will be posted once they have been fully finalized.
richard
A random offset of only 50-100m would be enough to hide the real location and It could also be added to stationBook xml without big effects in the hypocentral locations…
I guess the question is what the obfuscation is exactly for. Offset of 50-100m won’t work in most rural areas for most reasons I can think of, possibly for “The Shake is in an unlocked shed and I don’t want just anybody to go pick it up”. Of course, there will be places where the closest other residence is kilometers away.
Given that you CAN set the exact location of the device, I think you should be able to set the exact “fake” location yourself if desired. That will eliminate any incentive for people to give a false real location as a lark or just because the real location will give away something they’d rather not reveal.
For most people an algorithm that shows the device at nearest (or >1km) “point of interest” (Google Maps or several databases online?) would be enough for the “Oh gawd, I don’t want burglars to know when I’m stomping around at home or crazed forum trolls/fans hunt me down” effect.
You are right, I was thinking on shakes installed in urban areas or small vilages. My fault…
