- Do not add measurements of e.g. air quality, traffic counts, ... [Sensor.Community](https://sensor.community/) is the right place for this
- Do not add points that are only interesting to you (e.g. the route of your next trip). [UMap](https://umap.openstreetmap.fr) is the right tool for this
- Do not add privacy-sensitive information, e.g. the names of persons living in a house
- Do not add data about now demolished items, such as 'there was a battle here 100 years ago' or 'there was a school here, before it was completely demolished and rebuild'. This can be added to [OpenHistoricalMap](https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/) instead.
OpenStreetMap data can be reused freely, including for commercial purposes. However, you have to:
1. Give attribution
2. Keep the data open - changes to data based on OpenStreetMap must be published under the same license.
You can read the [full copyright notice here](https://osm.org/copyright)
This also means that we are *not* allowed to copy data from other maps. Do not enter data based on Google Maps!
# How does OpenStreetMap organise the data?
In OpenStreetMap, the geodata can be one of three types:
- **Points** which have a geocoordinate
- **Lines** which are a _list_ of points. Closed lines are used to represent polygons
- **Relations** which are a _list_ of points, lines and/or other relations.
All of those objects have a set of **attributes**. These are pairs of a **key** and a **value** which tell us what a point or line does represent. For example, `amenity=bench` represents a sitting bench.
You can find the meaning of all those keys and values on the [OpenStreetMap-wiki](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/)
- It is a café, where one can drink a tea (while testing one of the board games)
- It is a social inclusion project for people with a mental disability
In a traditional system with layers, one would either have to choose the most fitting layer (e.g. the layer `pub`, `shops` or `social facility`? ) losing the multi-facetted aspect of the place.
Another approach could be to add it to all three layers, duplicating the data. However, this makes maintaining the data harder.
MapComplete is a map viewer and editor. A contributor is presented a *thematic map* with features that are relevant to this topic.
These features are based on OpenStreetMap. If some data is not known, the user will be asked some **questions** and is invited to answer them. These answers are sent back to OpenStreetMap, updating it there.
In MapComplete Studio, you can create and edit layers and themes to tweak it for your needs.
As a reminder:
- [OpenStreetMap](https://openstreetmap.org) is an open, geographical database which can be reused under [a permissive license](https://openstreetmap.org/copyright)
- MapComplete visualises data (mostly) from OpenStreetMap and can add new points and attributes to OpenStreetMap
- MapComplete works with layers; which can be bundled into a theme
