Paranoid governments vs Google


Google Earth makes some people sweat
It makes you wonder why these governments are nervous, doesn't it?

But since its debut last summer, Google Earth has received attention of an unexpected sort. Officials of several nations have expressed alarm over its detailed display of government buildings, military installations and other important sites within their borders.

India, whose laws sharply restrict satellite and aerial photography, has been particularly outspoken. "It could severely compromise a country's security," V. S. Ramamurthy, secretary in India's federal Department of Science and Technology, said of Google Earth. And India's surveyor general, Maj. Gen. M. Gopal Rao, said, "They ought to have asked us."

Similar sentiments have surfaced in news reports from other countries. South Korean officials have said they fear that Google Earth lays bare details of military installations. Thai security officials said they intended to ask Google to block images of vulnerable government buildings. And Lt. Gen. Leonid Sazhin, an analyst for the Federal Security Service, the Russian security agency that succeeded the K.G.B., was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying: "Terrorists don't need to reconnoiter their target. Now an American company is working for them."

But there is little they can do, it seems, but protest.

Since Google doesn't have any satellites of it's own and has to pay for the images it uses, it certainly raises some questions. Especially since outside the high population areas, the photos are a mix of up to date and out of date.

Still, if a company makes governments nervous by providing information, so much the better.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Tue - December 20, 2005 at 05:34 AM  Tag


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