What3words: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
|||
| (4 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{ | {{CompanyCargo | ||
| | |Description=British geolocation system that provides three-word phrases to label every 3x3 meter square on the globe. | ||
|Founded = 2013 | |Founded=2013 | ||
| | |Industry=Geocoding, GIS | ||
|Logo=What3Words example.svg | |||
| | |ParentCompany= | ||
| | |Type=Private | ||
|Website=[https://what3words.com what3words.com] | |||
}} | |||
'''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What3words What3Words]''' (W3W) is a proprietary geolocation system developed by What3Words Limited, assigning three-word combinations to 3×3 meter squares across the globe. It is marketed as a simple alternative to latitude/longitude for navigation, logistics, and emergency services. The system is entirely closed-source and is protected by patents, copyrighted wordlists, and trademarks. | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What3words What3Words]''' (W3W) is a proprietary geolocation system developed by What3Words Limited, assigning three-word combinations to 3×3 meter squares across the globe. It is marketed as a simple alternative to latitude/longitude for navigation, logistics, and emergency services. The system is entirely closed-source and is protected by patents, copyrighted wordlists, and trademarks. | ||
Although widely promoted for consumer use, What3Words has been the subject of significant criticism from security researchers, mapping experts, emergency response professionals, and open-data advocates. Criticisms focus on its proprietary nature, licensing restrictions, algorithmic opacity, similarity-based errors in safety-critical contexts, and the company’s history of issuing legal threats against researchers who attempted to analyze or replicate the system.<ref name="tc2021">{{cite web|title=What3Words sent a legal threat to a security researcher for sharing an open-source project| | Although widely promoted for consumer use, What3Words has been the subject of significant criticism from security researchers, mapping experts, emergency response professionals, and open-data advocates. Criticisms focus on its proprietary nature, licensing restrictions, algorithmic opacity, similarity-based errors in safety-critical contexts, and the company’s history of issuing legal threats against researchers who attempted to analyze or replicate the system.<ref name="tc2021">{{cite web |author=Zach Whittaker |date=29 April 2021 |title=What3Words sent a legal threat to a security researcher for sharing an open-source project |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/30/what3words-legal-threat-whatfreewords/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250722052654/https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/30/what3words-legal-threat-whatfreewords/ |archive-date=22 Jul 2025 |publisher=[[TechCrunch]]}}</ref><ref name="bbc2021a">{{cite web|title=Rescuers question what3words' use in emergencies|author=Chris Vallance|date=31 May 2021|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57156797 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260220180059/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57156797 |archive-date=20 Feb 2026}}</ref> | ||
==Consumer Impact Summary== | ==Consumer Impact Summary== | ||
*'''User Freedom:''' Limited; closed-source design, restrictive API license, and prohibitions on independent implementations.<ref name="osm">{{cite web|title=what3words codes in OSM|publisher=OpenStreetMap Wiki|url=https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/What3words}}</ref> | *'''User Freedom:''' Limited; closed-source design, restrictive API license, and prohibitions on independent implementations.<ref name="osm">{{cite web|title=what3words codes in OSM|publisher=OpenStreetMap Wiki|url=https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/What3words |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251004212017/https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/What3words |archive-date=4 Oct 2025}}</ref> | ||
*'''Transparency:''' Poor; the algorithm, wordlists, and error handling are not publicly auditable. | *'''Transparency:''' Poor; the algorithm, wordlists, and error handling are not publicly auditable. | ||
*'''Business Model:''' Proprietary licensing, metered API access, and restrictions on redistribution of derived data.<ref name="api">{{cite web|title=API Licence Agreement|publisher=What3Words|date=17 April 2025|url=https://what3words.com/api-licence-agreement}}</ref> | *'''Business Model:''' Proprietary licensing, metered API access, and restrictions on redistribution of derived data.<ref name="api">{{cite web|title=API Licence Agreement|publisher=What3Words|date=17 April 2025|url=https://what3words.com/api-licence-agreement |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250926144708/https://what3words.com/api-licence-agreement |archive-date=26 Sep 2025}}</ref> | ||
*'''Market Competition:''' Faces criticism compared to open alternatives such as Plus Codes, traditional coordinates, and Mapcodes. | *'''Market Competition:''' Faces criticism compared to open alternatives such as Plus Codes, traditional coordinates, and Mapcodes. | ||
*'''Public Safety Impact:''' Mixed; documented cases of miscommunication and near-miss incidents have raised concern among emergency services.<ref name="bbc2021b">{{cite web|title=App used by emergency services under scrutiny|date=28 April 2021|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56901363}}</ref> | *'''Public Safety Impact:''' Mixed; documented cases of miscommunication and near-miss incidents have raised concern among emergency services.<ref name="bbc2021b">{{cite web|title=App used by emergency services under scrutiny|date=28 April 2021|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56901363 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251103120626/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56901363 |archive-date=3 Nov 2025}}</ref> | ||
==Incidents== | ==Incidents== | ||
===Legal threats against researchers=== | ===Legal threats against researchers=== | ||
*In April 2021, What3Words—through law firm JA Kemp—issued a legal threat to security researcher Aaron Toponce, demanding deletion of tweets referencing the open-source “WhatFreeWords” project, disclosure of any recipients, and removal of all copies of the software.*<ref name="tc2021" /> | *In April 2021, What3Words—through law firm JA Kemp—issued a legal threat to security researcher Aaron Toponce, demanding deletion of tweets referencing the open-source “WhatFreeWords” project, disclosure of any recipients, and removal of all copies of the software.*<ref name="tc2021" /> | ||
TechCrunch reported that What3Words claimed the project contained proprietary data and binary information, although it did not seek removal of criticism.<ref name="tc2021" /> | TechCrunch reported that What3Words claimed the project contained proprietary data and binary information, although it did not seek removal of criticism.<ref name="tc2021" /> | ||
*What3Words previously pursued takedown actions targeting the WhatFreeWords website and related tweets, including a DMCA request and a WIPO complaint that resulted in domain seizure in 2020.*<ref>{{cite web|title=what3words codes in OSM – WhatFreeWords|publisher=OpenStreetMap Wiki|url=https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/What3words}}</ref> | *What3Words previously pursued takedown actions targeting the WhatFreeWords website and related tweets, including a DMCA request and a WIPO complaint that resulted in domain seizure in 2020.*<ref>{{cite web|title=what3words codes in OSM – WhatFreeWords|publisher=OpenStreetMap Wiki|url=https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/What3words |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251004212017/https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/What3words |archive-date=4 Oct 2025}}</ref> | ||
*These threats are documented in the Disclose.io database of legal threats against researchers,* including entries from September 2019 and April 2021.<ref>{{cite web|title=Collection of legal threats against good-faith Security Researchers|publisher=Disclose.io|url=https://github.com/disclose/research-threats}}</ref> | *These threats are documented in the Disclose.io database of legal threats against researchers,* including entries from September 2019 and April 2021.<ref>{{cite web|title=Collection of legal threats against good-faith Security Researchers|publisher=Disclose.io|url=https://github.com/disclose/research-threats |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260203143504/https://github.com/disclose/research-threats |archive-date=3 Feb 2026}}</ref> | ||
===Closed-source model and restrictive licensing=== | ===Closed-source model and restrictive licensing=== | ||
The OpenStreetMap community characterizes W3W as a “closed system,” noting its use of patented algorithms, encrypted wordlists, copyright protection, and trademark restrictions that prevent interoperability or integration with open datasets.<ref name="osm" /> | The OpenStreetMap community characterizes W3W as a “closed system,” noting its use of patented algorithms, encrypted wordlists, copyright protection, and trademark restrictions that prevent interoperability or integration with open datasets.<ref name="osm" /> | ||
What3Words’ API Licence Agreement further restricts usage by defining “What3Words Data” broadly, imposing request limits, and requiring prior approval for NGO use exceeding 75,000 monthly API calls.<ref name="api" /> | What3Words’ API Licence Agreement further restricts usage by defining “What3Words Data” broadly, imposing request limits, and requiring prior approval for NGO use exceeding 75,000 monthly API calls.<ref name="api" /> | ||
The OpenStreetMap Foundation’s licensing guidance identifies structural incompatibilities between W3W’s restrictive terms and ODbL-licensed open data, advising against use of proprietary addressing schemes in open geographic projects.<ref>{{cite web|title=Licence Compatibility|publisher=OpenStreetMap Foundation|date=16 March 2017|url=https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Licence/Licence_Compatibility}}</ref> | The OpenStreetMap Foundation’s licensing guidance identifies structural incompatibilities between W3W’s restrictive terms and ODbL-licensed open data, advising against use of proprietary addressing schemes in open geographic projects.<ref>{{cite web|title=Licence Compatibility|publisher=OpenStreetMap Foundation|date=16 March 2017|url=https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Licence/Licence_Compatibility |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260218095918/https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Licence/Licence_Compatibility |archive-date=18 Feb 2026}}</ref> | ||
===Ambiguity, similarity errors, and emergency response failures=== | ===Ambiguity, similarity errors, and emergency response failures=== | ||
Multiple BBC investigations documented incidents where What3Words locations were miscommunicated or incorrect in emergency scenarios: | Multiple BBC investigations documented incidents where What3Words locations were miscommunicated or incorrect in emergency scenarios: | ||
| Line 34: | Line 35: | ||
*'''US Patent 10,909,318''' – “Method for suggesting one or more multi-word candidates…” (Granted Feb 2, 2021).<ref>{{cite web|title=What3Words—Patent 10,909,318|publisher=Justia Patents|url=https://patents.justia.com/assignee/what3words-limited}}</ref> | *'''US Patent 10,909,318''' – “Method for suggesting one or more multi-word candidates…” (Granted Feb 2, 2021).<ref>{{cite web|title=What3Words—Patent 10,909,318|publisher=Justia Patents|url=https://patents.justia.com/assignee/what3words-limited}}</ref> | ||
*'''US Patent 11,017,169''' – “Method for suggesting candidate words as replacements…” (Granted May 25, 2021).<ref>{{cite web|title=What3Words—Patent 11,017,169|publisher=Justia Patents|url=https://patents.justia.com/assignee/what3words-limited}}</ref> | *'''US Patent 11,017,169''' – “Method for suggesting candidate words as replacements…” (Granted May 25, 2021).<ref>{{cite web|title=What3Words—Patent 11,017,169|publisher=Justia Patents|url=https://patents.justia.com/assignee/what3words-limited}}</ref> | ||
What3Words also disclosed IPR to the IETF for draft-saywhere, referencing CA2909524A1.<ref>{{cite web|title=WHAT3WORDS Ltd IPR Disclosure|publisher=IETF Datatracker|date=18 October 2025|url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/7025/}}</ref> | What3Words also disclosed IPR to the IETF for draft-saywhere, referencing CA2909524A1.<ref>{{cite web|title=WHAT3WORDS Ltd IPR Disclosure|publisher=IETF Datatracker|date=18 October 2025|url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/7025/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251111204753/https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/7025/ |archive-date=11 Nov 2025}}</ref> | ||
===Public statements and disputes with critics=== | ===Public statements and disputes with critics=== | ||
In response to criticism, What3Words frequently asserts that: | In response to criticism, What3Words frequently asserts that: | ||
| Line 42: | Line 43: | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]] | |||