A new website allows users to see exactly where registered dog owners live in Reykajvík.
The site, Gögn.in (from the Icelandic gögnin, “the data”), features a map of Reykjavík and charts regarding the number of dogs registered in which areas. Select areas can be chosen, wherein visitors can see precisely where registered dog owners live in the city. The project was cleared by the Data Protection Authority, and was created by Grapevine’s own Páll Hilmarsson.
Árný Sigurðardóttir, the managing director of the Reykjavík Health Supervisory Authority, told Vísir that no one need feel ashamed of owning a dog in the city – it is perfectly legal to do so, provided they are officially registered. However, the city does receive some 700 complaints about dogs every year, and a good portion of these dogs are not legally registered.
Páll created the map based on data already available to the general public in terms of where those with registered dogs live. He says that he considers it a natural function of the map to serve the public, for those who are maybe allergic to or afraid of dogs, who can then make an informed decision about where they might want to live in the city. He added that another purpose for the project was to demonstrate new ways in which data can be used and presented.
According to the data, there are some 2,277 registered dog owners in the city as a whole, and 63 people for each registered dog in the 101 area alone.
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