How do you handle observations where the “Accuracy” is so large that it takes in a whole continent? I frequently see observations that are put on the map in Central Australia, with a circle of accuracy that takes in the whole country - giving an “accuracy” of 4 or 5 million metres. The circles often…

[image] wendyjegla: But the obscured range itself is so small as to have no effect on what species would be appropriate here. The boxes I see on obscured records are about 12 km x 25 km. In this country, UK, most mapping schemes are at the 10 km scale or finer, so the obscuring is enough to p…

Even county-wide accuracy circles are a problem with some of the species I ID, as it means potential range overlap makes a species unidentifiable. I have generally had very good luck with letting a user know that they have to be a little more specific if they want an ID to species on these organism…

I don’t think you should assume or they should expect you to assume that all their observations are always going to be from the same place.

[image] suntooth: Accuracy and precision are two different things. +1000 And plenty of observations on iNat have very precise location information, which is completely inaccurate.

Always worth repeating: [Accuracy vs Precision]

[image] wendyjegla: My location accuracy is typically down to the meter, and I have “unobscured” for several people and all project moderators. But the obscured range itself is so small as to have no effect on what species would be appropriate here. Am I missing something? Is there an objection…

[image] tser: My question in this case, if I do remember who this user is and that they always post observations from the same general location which is species IDable, but their accuracy circle is always too big to ID to species, from a data standpoint, is it better to leave it at genus, or, si…

That was helpful* - I haven’t spent a lot of time understanding the data-handling consequences for projects and other end users, I’ve just ticked the boxes to allow project access and hoped that solved all the problems. It is frustrating that iNat made the change to obscure the date as well. “Date…

[image] wendyjegla: I haven’t spent a lot of time understanding the data-handling consequences for projects and other end users In many cases, obscuration probably has limited impact on external data users, as long as the data users understand the (arguably) bizarre coordinate randomization t…

[image] jimmoore: many high end cameras don’t even have this functionality. And even for the ones that do have it users often turn the off to increase battery life. I do this with my cameras.

Huge "Accuracy" Circles

General

rcavasin January 18, 2026, 10:48pm 24

I don’t know if you’re talking about me, but I don’t think I ever “objected” to obscured observations. I simply choose to ignore them. You want to obscure your observations? No problem.
You can read some of my thoughts on the matter here.

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On observations with unusually low location accuracy General question	90	1701	June 8, 2025
Deliberately posting false or inaccurate information General	65	4667	September 7, 2023
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Huge "Accuracy" Circles

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