A German artist illustrated how it is possible to create a virtual traffic jam in Google Maps by walking around the streets of Berlin with 99 cell phones.

Google Maps utilizes GPS and location data from mobile devices to determine if there is traffic congestion on a particular street. The app will then redirect users to less trafficked streets to avoid traffic.

Using a hand cart filled with 99 active cell phones connected to Google Maps, artist Simon Weckert showed how he could create fake traffic jams in Google Maps simply by walking around the streets of Berlin.

As he would be walking, rather than driving, Google Maps would perceive it to be a traffic jam due to a large number of devices reporting the same slow speed.

With so many users relying on Waze and Google Maps for driving directions, this hack illustrates how the data being fed into mapping programs can be manipulated to force apps to recommend different driving routes.

"99 second hand smartphones are transported in a handcart to generate virtual traffic jam in Google Maps. Through this activity, it is possible to turn a green street red which has an impact in the physical world by navigating cars on another route to avoid being stuck in traffic," Weckert stated on his web site.

This could also have security ramifications as threat actors can use this type of data manipulation to reroute cars down specifically chosen routes rather than ones defined by valid traffic data.