cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/13599152

Just wanted to share this since I didn't find anything on lemmy about this. It's a pretty cool open-source project that I got introduced to while investigating a google maps / mapbox open-source alternatives for globe representation on the web.

Sorry if it doesn't fit into this community - didn't find a better community to post this and the sidebar says "OSM related software" posts are ok.

Here is a link to their website with examples: https://www.openglobus.org/

Repo: https://github.com/ciupava/maptcha_dev

Demo: https://maptcha.crown-shy.com/

Opensource geodata of celltowers, wifis and bluetooth beacons is crucial.

It allows apps like UnifiedNLP to give the OS the location data it needs, without relying on GPS Sattelites.

GPS can be tampered with, and A-GPS is not privacy friendly at all.

UnifiedNLP is only found included in microG, which is pretty insecure.

But GrapheneOS devs are working on a regular user app that serves network location data, using Apple, Apple (proxied) or a local BeaconDB database!

BeaconDB is a new service to replace MozillaLocationServices which has shut down unfortunately.

Apps like TowerCollector dont yet support it, but NeoStumbler does, and also has more advanced features.

Collect network info in your region, and in the future you (and everyone else using it) dont need GPS anymore!

(You can also use the screenshots in that mastodon thread as reference)