[talk-au] Information source question - sorry kind of lengthy.

[stevea]

On Feb 2, 2022, at 2:23 PM, Graeme Fitzpatrick <graemefitz1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> So you're standing in the pub having a cold beer & the two blokes beside you are talking.
> ...
> Does that count as Local Knowledge?

Graeme, I'm not an attorney / solicitor, but what you describe is called "hearsay" and is not usually allowable as "evidence" (under Rules of Evidence; consult your local "Rules").  I know, we're not talking about a court of law, we're talking about "good practices to enter data into OSM so as to be compliant with ODbL."  But similar principles apply:  second-hand (or third-hand...) knowledge of something (e.g. a conversation overheard in a pub) edges into a land of "gossip" and this is why gossip can be so damaging (in a court of law OR in OSM):  it isn't backed up by the "author's" (speaker's) direct observation.

Anybody can "gin up" something.  That doesn't make it true.  How do you know those blokes in the pub aren't 100% setting you up to fail by entering the closure data in OSM?  I realize such a scenario is far-fetched, but this technique absolutely has been used before to "trap" people into believing something is true, when it isn't.  That's why "hearsay" is excluded from courts as evidence.  OSM should be at least as cautious, so (speaking for myself), I wouldn't enter the pub conversation data into OSM.

Good thread.