Google does not perceive ISRO’s geo-portal app Bhuvan as competition, a senior Google India official said here on Thursday, stressing that such data sharing platforms help bolster the industry. “From our analysis, it’s a great platform for sharing data. We generally don’t look at a different app as a competition as we are trying to solve the same problem,” said Google India’s Maps Lead Sanket Gupta.
“There’s a long way to go… It is something like a great experience and generally great for the industry,” Gupta told the media here. Bhuvan is a software application created by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) that allows users to explore 2D/3D representation of the Earth’s surface. The mapping app is specifically tailored to view India, offering highest resolution in the region and providing content in four local languages.
Asked about the security and privacy concerns regarding live traffic updates, Gupta clarified the company aggregates anonymised traffic data from people using Google Maps apps. “We generally strip out personal identifiable information which keeps it secure and that’s why we can’t identify a particular traffic update to a particular cell phone,” Gupta added.