A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha has called for an Indian alternative to Google Maps in light of the application’s frequent navigational errors landing users in troubled waters, as per a report by The Hindu.
While raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Dr. Ajeet Madhavrao Gopchade said: “Incidents due to Google Maps’ errors in India are becoming a more and more serious issue”.
He added that such instances highlighted the dangerous consequences of depending excessively on technological solutions, while quoting two recent incidents.
“In Kerala recently, two 29-year-old doctors regretfully died when they were navigating using Google Maps and their car fell into the Periyar river. There was a similar incident in Bareilly [in Uttar Pradesh], when a car fell into a river while following Google Maps directions”, he was further quoted as saying.
Homegrown mapping solutions the future?
The Rajya Sabha lawmaker urged Indian start-up ventures and firms to collaborate with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in developing ‘swadeshi’ mapping solutions specifically designed for India’s local needs.
He also levelled allegations against Google for neglecting users’ data security, and being lax in terms of data accuracy.
“Section 43(a) of the Information Technology Act provides that all entities must protect the security of their users’ data. The aim of this is to ensure that personal and sensitive data is kept secure, and to insure against any unauthorised misuse of data. Entities like Google Maps have technical capabilities, but they have neglectfully failed in data accuracy and security,” he was quoted as saying.
Why it Matters?
Dr. Gopchade’s suggestion is understandable as it comes on the heels of extensive reportage that highlights the failures of Google Maps within India. However, developing an alternative to the globally popular Google Maps is easier said than done, as is demonstrated by the case of Apple Maps’ launch back in 2012.
Apple CEO Tim Cook ended up apologizing to users for falling short to deliver “the best experience possible” with the Apple Maps app due to information gaps and other geographical errors.
Notably, Cook suggested apps by market competitors – such as Google Maps – while the tech giant worked on improving bugs and errors on its native navigation app.
“We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better. You can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps,” he had said at the time.
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