[OSM-dev] Working with OSM data with less or no metadata

[Roland Olbricht]

Hi,

> - timestamps however cannot only potentially be used in lieu of 
> changeset ids to group contributions, the information itself is 
> problematic because it allows to profile contributions over time

Timestamps are necessary to correctly figure out which nodes have 
belonged to a certain version of a way, and similarly for ways and nodes 
belonging to relations.

More generally:

- What is planned with regard to minute diffs? Stripping extra 
information will inevitably break tools like Achavi

- Tools will need substantial time (I would estimate 3-6 months for 
Overpass API) to adapt in a meaningful way. What is the schedule of the 
LWG to take decisions?

- How about simply asking the users for consent? We could then
-- make a clear-cut last complete history dump before the date
-- start with a planet dump without history before that date afterwards 
that then accumulates history only from users that have given consent

Personally, I would prefer a solution as easy as dropping usernames and 
uids but retaining changeset ids, timestamps and the geometry/tag data.
That way we display goodwill, but do not cripple the tools that have 
proven useful or crucial to run the project.

Please note that in the context of an API without user interface, it is 
a substantial challenge in itself to have any form of (OAuth or so) 
authentification.

Cheers,
Roland