Verification
The Truth Report
How VeroMaps knows a place is real — and what it can't prove.
Verified so far
What counts as evidence
A place is a Truth Bounty until someone proves it in person. A Ground Truth Audit needs these two at once — and the server, not your phone, decides whether they count.
A live photo. Taken with the in-app camera — no gallery uploads, no pasted links. The same photo can only ever be used once.
GPS within 75 m. Our server measures the distance against the place's own coordinates. A distance your phone claims is ignored.
Sound is an optional extra. You can add a 5-second reading from the device microphone; it is shown for the same kind of day and time of day, because a place sounds different on a weekday morning and a Saturday night. Demo, simulated or muted readings are rejected, and sound on its own never verifies a place.
One pioneer per place. The first verified audit earns the bounty; later explorers add live updates and sound logs instead.
Sound readings age. A reading older than 6 months is flagged as ageing; older than a year, the place can be re-audited for a Refresh bounty.
Truth Hunter: keeping the map honest
Two pins that look like one place are settled by explorers, not by one click. A duplicate is only merged when three independent explorers agree, or when one explorer verifies it in person with a live photo. XP for a remote review is held until the community confirms it, and a vote against the final outcome earns nothing. It is free for everyone once you've completed a field audit.
What we can't prove
Verification is checked, not tamper-proof. A phone that fakes its GPS, or a photo of a screen, can still get past the server. Reports and moderator review are the backstop, and a place only earns community consensus from many independent explorers. Until someone has been there we say the place is not checked on-site yet rather than guess, and a noise level only appears if someone actually recorded it.
Where the data comes from
VeroMaps starts from open data and adds what explorers verify on the spot. Each place's page credits its own sources.
- Places and map: © OpenStreetMap contributors (Open Database Licence), with map tiles from OpenFreeMap and OpenMapTiles.
- Descriptions of many places: summaries from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Each description links to its article.
- Archive photos: from Wikimedia Commons. Each photo links to its file page, which names its author and licence. A place with no photo shows a placeholder until an explorer takes a live one.
- Live photos, sound readings and new places: made by VeroMaps explorers, on the spot.
- Walking, cycling and driving routes: OSRM and OpenRouteService, both built on OpenStreetMap data.
Recently verified
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