U.S. government wants to censor Google Earth
It seems like the government might be moving towards censoring Google’s content. Someone slap me, as I could have sworn that I don’t live on mainland China. The head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, has announced that the United States government is growing increasingly uncomfortable with level of detail and photographic precision that research and educational tools like Google Earth provide. According the Murrett, the agency might move to restrict funding to companies that provide satellite imagery. As most of these satellite imagery services garner a significant portion of their funding from government grants, this could effectively choke the flow of new and more highly defined pictures. While we understand that national security concerns are of significant importance, restricting the free flow of information is a slippery slope. Here’s to hoping that this one doesn’t escalate beyond the usual posturing and rhetoric.
[Via Information Week]
Screw the US government then! Google Earth is one of the hottest pieces of software ever. Plus I’m sure Google doesn’t need funding from the government!
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. . . wow. . . So will MSN Live Search be shut down too? I use it on my mobile all the time and look at all types of places. . . in the US and UK. . .
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I read the article you linked and from what I can tell, Murrett didn’t say he would restrict funding. The author, Stephen Wellman, said there were two things the government “could do” with funding restrictions being one of them.
The article Mr. Wellman links to clearly states that “Murrett’s agency” has given a billion dollars to two companies who will be providing higher resolution data later this year. Murrett also says that “his agency has been increasingly using commercial imagery in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to help map and understand the devastation after U.S. disasters like Hurricane Katrina.”
So, really, it sounds like Mr. Wellman is getting his panties in a bunch and SPECULATING on what COULD happen, not what Murrett actually said.
And really, to be honest, I think the government SHOULD edit or censor public images of military installations and government buildings. I know it might not be a popular stance to take but my husband is in the military and I think that he, along with the civilians employed by the US Gov’t, deserve a little protection. If the base is surrounded by razor wire and armed guards, then the overhead images should be protected from the enemy.
While we were stationed overseas, local authorities foiled a plot to attack the base we lived on. I can not even begin to tell you how terrifying that was… and how upsetting it was to know that they didn’t even need to get on the base in order to map out their plan. Everything they needed to know was on Google.
I can’t even imagine the vulnerabilities that causes for the men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Would you want to be at war knowing your enemy just needs to do a quick Google search to determine the best place to set off a rocket attack or car bomb?? It’s something to think about when you’re drawing parallels to “mainland China”.
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TR Government should cencor it too. Because people tagging false places and making Turkish people crazy. See Diyarbakir issue.
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Censoring public images will do very little to protect an installation. What matters is what’s inside those buildings, Which last I heard, Google maps cannot photograph. Someone who is determined enough (and well funded.) will find a way.
Re: Fort Dix, NJ they didn’t even need google maps, one of the conspirators got job delivering pizza’s to the base and learned his way around….
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@ Randy: Someone who is determined enough will find a way, I agree, but Google doesn’t have to make it easier for them either. And I respectfully disagree with you completely that censoring images will do little to protect an installation or assuming that the only thing that matters is what’s *inside*. Have you not looked at a Navy base, stateside or overseas? They don’t keep ships inside buildings and what matters most on a ship (weapons capabilities) is visible from Google maps.
Also, if you look at an Army base or an Air Force base, tanks, planes and other equipment aren’t always kept inside buildings. Showing our enemies where we stage our tanks/planes/etc or even how many we have is a serious vulnerability.
On top of that, I think it’s easy for someone familiar with military bases to look at Google maps and determine which buildings are barracks. To say that censoring their location from public view will do little to protect them is short-sighted.
And, when it comes down to it, ANY protection, no matter how little, is worth it.
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There is a big difference between the government censoring applications such as google earth, and the government simply refusing to fund a project that may hurt them.
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I actually agree with you Betty at least on the government and military facilites. Blur those facilites, why drop the information terrorists need into their laps? Folks have even conveniently stick-pinned the location of nuclear launch sites, and storage facilities in Google layers! With a son in the military like Betty it does worry me.
That said, its a great tool.
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Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. While it does seem that Wellman might be leaping to some conclusions, the article/interview that he references includes a statement from Murrett indicating that the agency has considered restricting funding, among other options, in an attempt to “have some control over things that are disseminated.” This is no commentary on your point of view, which is more than valid, just a bit of evidence to support the claims in the article. Thanks!
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Here’s a link to the original article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/08/national/w140605D01.DTL&type=politics
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Google will just pay the satellite imaging companies for the difference in lost funding from the government… Just like that!
People determined enough to have strategic information will find it regardless of how much satellite imaging is being censored.
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