Hot on the heels of a major expansion of Maps’ transit directions and indoor maps, Apple’s now expanded pedestrian-based data collection to Hawaii and Nevada through February while announcing that vehicle-based data collection will be coming to Andorra in April 2019.
That’s according to the company’s recently revamped Maps image collection website, which has augmented the previous Apple Maps vehicles list.
In addition to providing a full list of countries where the company is or will be conducting ground survey data both in vehicles and on foot in the upcoming months, the new website states that the firm will be periodically revisiting some locations to gather new data.
From the website:
Apple is conducting ground surveys around the world to collect data which will be used to improve Apple Maps. Some of this data will be published in future Apple Maps updates. We will also periodically revisit some locations to gather new data in an effort to maintain a high-quality, up-to-date map.
MacRumors, which first reported about the overhauled Apple Maps image collection website, notes that the company has been collecting mapping data in the United States since 2015, with over 45 states at least partially surveyed to date.
As per Apple’s webpage, Maps vehicles have surveyed parts of Croatia, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Unlike Google, whose data-collection vehicles were caught in the past capturing private information like Wi-Fi networks of nearby users, Apple remains committed to protecting your privacy while conducting these pedestrian and vehicle-based surveys.
For example, the company blurs faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication (to be fair, Google and other mapping providers do this as well).