Working Group Minutes/DWG 2018-11-14 Crimea
Note: This resolution has been rescinded by a decision of the OSMF board on 10 December 2018. Details on the board decision will be published in due course. The board decided that the previous DWG resolution on Crimea is to remain in force.
This resolution was voted on at the last DWG meeting, and the minutes are still being written.
The Data Working Group has reviewed its past statement on Crimea to make sure it reflects the OSMF policy for disputed territories. As with other conflicts around the world OSM only seeks to represent the on-the-ground situation. We understand the situation is sensitive, but have found the behavior of the community peaceful and mature, and we hope that the community retains the spirit of cooperation instead of conflict. The previous resolution had four parts. Parts two and four have been carried to the current resolution.
1. Edits to the administrative boundaries for the region.
Crimea shall be part of the Russia administrative relation and not the Ukraine one as long as Russia has on-the-ground control in Crimea. The boundaries of Crimea shall be indicated as disputed, with the exception of water-based ones on the Black Sea or Sea of Azov where there is no dispute.
The Data Working Group takes no stance on if Russia's control is legal or not, as that is not within our scope.
2. Edits adding tags indicating that objects are in one country or another, such as addr:country on objects which would not normally have any addr tags.
These edits should be avoided. They do not generally have the impact the user intended in the cases we have seen, as the tags added are not generally used by data consumers. addr:country should not be added to individual objects, or added from existing ones; instead the admin boundaries provide adequate indications of country status.
3. Edits changing place names between languages
The "on the ground" rule remains the method of determining the appropriate value for the name tag. The name tag should only changed in response to a change of most of the signage, a change in what the inhabitants of the place call it, or to fix a place name that was previously incorrect.
Given the nature of the dispute, it would be best to support any name changes with a photo of changed signs or similar evidence, but this is not required if there are other sources.
4. Other matters
Mechanical edits changing names or country information would require consensus from both the Ukrainian and Russian communities. It is unlikely that any such edit proposals will be able to achieve this.
Creating accounts for the purpose of controversial edits is strongly discouraged.
Changesets which change the language of names or attempt to edit which country something is in must use meaningful changeset comments, not an empty comment or the same comment copied for all changesets.
Edits ignoring the above may be reverted by the Data Working Group. If edits violating this are noticed and you cannot work it out with the user, please email data@osmfoundation.org about the issue, remembering to include sufficient information to identify the edits in question, relevant correspondence with the user, and any evidence.