Do you use or want to use data from OpenStreetMap (OSM) AND would you like to “check” its quality before distributing it within your applications? Clearance meets this need.
The issue of data quality is indeed a recurring problem with OpenStreetMap: all changes are taken into account in real time, without prior validation.
Although, overall, the changes made by the community of contributors are improvements, they may contain errors. In addition, it may be important for you to monitor the quality of contributions on specific tags (descriptors). This depends on how you reuse the data.
Clearance acts as a filter and allows you to target potential errors. This filter can be configured according to your objectives.
After passing through the Clearance filter, the data is copied to a local database and made available in OSM format.
Some examples of rules for retaining data in Clearance so that it can be validated (approved after verification)
- The geo-location of a defibrillator is changed by more than two meters, a new defibrillator is added because this may impact safety and engage your responsibility.
- A business’s reference is deleted, added, or modified in OSM because this may have an impact on joins with a business database that you use.
- Adding a new drinking water source or picnic table, as this allows you to check the validity of the information with the local authority and sometimes share the information more effectively within departments.
- Road disconnections, as this affects route calculators.
The rules passed through the filter can be fine-grained in order to minimize human oversight. For example, a simple change in phone number format can be accepted by default, even though changes to phone numbers are monitored.
Clearance acts as a filter or “proxy.” The filtered data is available in a standard OSM format.
