Finally, India wakes up to security concerns of Google Earth
October 16th, 2005 Leave a comment Visited 35 times, 1 so far today
Finally, India wakes up to security concerns of Google Earth
It has been months since Google has launched Google Earth that lets anyone see the Earth from close up using satellite imagery. Many nations around the world complained about their strategically important destinations, which were made public on the service. Taiwan even found their identity stolen on the service. And Google managed to please each of them up by making updates to their database.
Finally, India has woken up. Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam expressed concern over the service provided for free by the search engine giant. He said that the imagery available from the service could be used by the terrorists to attack the potential targets. India’s President and Prime Minister’s house is clearly visible on the service and it makes potential danger to their security.
Kalam was speaking at the meeting of top police officials in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. He expressed that certain developing nations are at threat because of this service considering some high-resolution imagery is available of places, which are very important for national security of those places.
Google is yet to respond to these comments made by the India’s concerns. However, the basic fact is that the content they are making available is already available under public domain and can be acquired if desired by any organization or party. They are just making that accessible which has been always the aim of the company.
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October 16th, 2005 at 02:21 pm
President Abdul Kalam is very right in expressing his concern about the high resolution images provided by Google Earth. Only this caution comes about 100 days late from the day when Google had launched its related web site!
I want to give you an example:
Near my hometown in Santiniketan/Bolpur, in West Bengal, INDIA is located Indian Air Force station PANAGARGH. Google provides a reasonably high resolution image of its runways!! I have seen the image clearly in Google Earth’s free version…and I am sure Google’s other professional versions might be providing greater image clarity. All is open to takers in exchange for a paltry sum of $400 USD!
But there is a flip-side of this problem also…Google’s 3-D images of the Pamir Knot, the Himalayas and the other mountain chains are simply superb! What wonderful images Google has given us of various Himalayan ice basins, glaciers and birth of so many rivers! On the whole I think I should thank Google.
October 17th, 2005 at 12:54 pm
President Abdul Kalam is right in expressing the concerns about the high resolution aerail photos of Delhi, including his office and other key installations, which may be used by terror organisations. It is not surprising that President Kalam expressed this, being a missile scientist himself, he is more concerned about the security of the country. On the other hand, one should not miss the fact that such imageries are already available and can be purchased in open market. By calling to ban the site from Indian viewers will not solve the problem. The site is of very much useful to accademic community, especially the earthscience researchers. Even today, it is very difficult to get a satellite imagery of places in India at a reasonable price. The topographic maps too are very difficult to access and most of the cases outdated. The policy makers should consider these facts before going ahead with ‘blocking’ of such a wonder internet site from Indian viewers
October 18th, 2005 at 04:15 pm
Blocking Google Earth defies the logic behind Information Technology. There are so many positive aspects that outweigh the negetive ones. Fearing a few fanatics who are a threat to our society, one cannot stop growing. Preventing acess to technology is not the solution. By doing so, we are avoiding the problem instead of solving it.
Yes, security is of prime importance. One way to handle this problem might be to block out only those sensitive areas. But its not a complete solution. It doesn’t hide the existence of a security installation, it hides only the details.
People need to come up with more rationalistic solutions. With no disrespect for anybody, I would like ask “Without Google Earth, how secure is our world? Is it fool proof?”
The answer is an obvious No.