[talk-au] Stealth import of beach names?

[Andy Townsend]

On 02/12/2021 10:35, Adam Horan wrote:
> In the last 2 weeks a handful of users have added or edited 182 
> beaches in Victoria.
>
> Each changeset contains 1 beach, there's a closed way for the beach 
> and there's a name.
> The changeset will reference Bing or Esri World Imagery (Clarity) Beta 
> as the imagery, and iD is used.
> The beach drawn typically doesn't match the imagery, although 
> sometimes it does.
> There's no clue on the source of the name - you can't get the name 
> from an aerial photo...
>
> This is the query I used https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1dGR if you run 
> it note that the updates are limited to VIC.
>
> There's a handful of users doing this, and they're all fresh accounts 
> with 'realistic' names, and all they've done is add beaches.
>
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Ryan__Williams/history
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Finnegan%20BARNES/history
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Elly%20Gresle/history
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/alana%20labagnara/history
>
> What to do?
>
>

I'd suggest initially sending a "hello and welcome to OSM" message via 
changeset discussion (so that everything can see) and then asking 
(nicely) where they got the name from.

It might indeed be a "stealth import"; but it might also be something 
like a school project, and trying to engage them in conversation will 
help tell the difference.

Best Regards,

Andy