Man Hacked Google Maps To Show Fake Traffic Jam
In Berlin, Germany, a man hacked Google Maps to show virtual Traffic Jams with 99 smartphones.
A man named Simon Weckert is an artist from Berlin with the focus in the digital world – including everything related to code and electronics under the reflection on current social aspects.
What did he do?
He filled a red cart with 99 smartphones, which caused a virtual traffic jam showed on Google Maps.He walks to the streets with 99 phones filled a cart, and after an hour, the google Map shows Red line on the Map to indicate the heavy traffic.
He realized that if a large number of smartphones in one place, then Google tracks it and shows traffic according to a user in the Map.
He said, "99 second hand smartphones are transported in a handcart to generate virtual traffic jam in Google Maps. Through this activity, it is possible to turn a green street red which has an impact in the physical world by navigating cars on another route to avoid being stuck in traffic."
99 smartphones are transported in a handcart to generate virtual traffic jam in Google Maps. Through this activity, it is possible to turn a green street red which has an impact in the physical world by navigating cars on another route! #googlemapshacks https://t.co/3gixMxopE6 pic.twitter.com/6KcMm1XgAF— Simon Weckert (@simon_deliver) February 1, 2020
Oh by the way do you know that we all can celebrate Google Maps 15th birthday in one week ? #googlemapshacks "The map is not the territory ..... but another version of reality." (Korzybski 1933) pic.twitter.com/Th0AwqLr9h— Simon Weckert (@simon_deliver) February 2, 2020
Google Respond
"Traffic data in Google Maps is refreshed continuously thanks to information from a variety of sources, including aggregated anonymized data from people who have location services turned on and contributions from the Google Maps community." Google Spokesman said."We’ve launched the ability to distinguish between cars and motorcycles in several countries including India, Indonesia and Egypt, though we haven’t quite cracked travelling by wagon. We appreciate seeing creative uses of Google Maps like this as it helps us make maps work better over time," it added.