Enhancements to the boat listing

[Administrator]

A user sent me a message asking \"Is there any way to add information to a boat listing? We own [boat name], and see you don't have the builders, [details], as part of the information. Also I can't find if there's any way to \"claim\" a boat, if that makes sense. \"

There are some complicated issues here, around synchronising the databases with the annual updates from the navigation authorities, about privacy (some people have some strange ideas here) and about how you can prove something - although the levels of inappropriate behaviour on CanalPlanAC have been very low I can see a situation where someone who was having a dispute with another boat owner could use any facility to update boat information in ways that we wouldn't like to see.

I think it might be an idea having a public debate among users about this.   Any thoughts anyone?

[Stephen Atty]

I'd built quite a lot of the functionality - it hangs off the Boat information page, and you have to have \"liked\" the boat as well as having an \"owner\" flag set.

I don't see how we could allow front end access to allow the \"owner\" flag to be set

We can easily add a field to the database that marks a record as updated internally and exclude that from any updates (CRT don't seem to send a full list any more... and in fact I'm still waiting for this years list!!), and maybe indicate on the boat information screen that the data has been changed and who changed it.

[Peter Scott]

Well, where owners would like to add detail of their boat, extra data could presumably be accommodated without overwriting the fields provided by CRT (or other navigation authority). As Nick says, there is the potential for ownership disputes.

My additional thought expands on the fact the Boat data was (as JimShead says on his website) originally obtained as FOI requests to BW (as it then was). Now, CRT create a big database (500k/yr) of boat sightings (boat, where sighted, when sighted) and since it's data about boats-not-people, and CRT took on from BW the continuing commitment to public accountability, this data might be obtainable in the same way. I had our boats' movements extracted and sent to me because I asked for it - and I can see that servicing similar individual requests could be time-consuming for CRT. Canalplan would be good at linking the datasets!

[Stephen Atty]

C&RT weren't able to provide a list of boats last year...  As for logging boat movements ... that would mean C&RT giving us the data at fixed intervals and us loading it.. If people want to use the tracking facility I coded to allow their boat movements to be tracked thats fine but I don;'t really think its Canalplan's place to be a source of C&RT tracking information...

[Administrator]

I very much doubt that it would be proper for C&RT to share information that was taken for license enforcement purposes with a third party to use it for general curiosity and interest.  It doesn't feel it would pass a DPA test.  

Again, you can prove who you are to C&RT because you have an (expensive!) relationship with them.  They - quite rightly - don't share personal details of ownership with us, so we can't verify you are who you claim to be.  

I really can't see a way round any of this I'm afraid.