Google Earth a terrorist planning tool?
by Arthur
Posted on Monday, December 19th, 2005 at 6:12 pm CET
I’m not surprised that a technological warfare expert said yesterday that the images from Google Earth could enable terrorists in Iraq to pinpoint targets inside military bases. I really love these sites — I think the way Google has offered Google Local as an API to web developers is absolutely magnificent — but it does worry me that potentially terrorists and other bad guys could use Google Earth or Microsoft’s Live.com to meticulously plan their evil deeds.
The new Bird’s Eye View feature on Live.com is particularly detailed. You can literally see people walking around. Check out the sample images below. Of course, the images on Google Earth are usually around 18 months old, or even older, but the warfare expert said “If you were interested in vehicles, then that would be a problem but if you are looking at a fixed installation like a military base then it won’t have changed that much.”
Windows Live, originally named Virtual Earth, was launched last week with the new Bird’s Eye View feature. The angled view of some of America’s largest cities is truely amazing and shows a much better view than the top-down view of Google. Right now Bird’s Eye View is only available in 12 large American cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, but more cities will be added soon.
Related links:
- Dutch politicians say Google Earth images help terrorists
- India: Google Maps Too Graphic
- Insurgents using Google Earth
- Google Earth Rocks Satellite Imagery World
Giants Stadium on Windows Live
I’m not surprised that a technological warfare expert said yesterday that the images from Google Earth could enable terrorists in Iraq to pinpoint targets inside military bases. I really love these sites — I think the way Google has offered Google Local as an API to web developers is absolutely magnificent — but it does worry me that potentially terrorists and other bad guys could use Google Earth or Microsoft’s Live.com to meticulously plan their evil deeds.
The new Bird’s Eye View feature on Live.com is particularly detailed. You can literally see people walking around. Check out the sample images below. Of course, the images on Google Earth are usually around 18 months old, or even older, but the warfare expert said “If you were interested in vehicles, then that would be a problem but if you are looking at a fixed installation like a military base then it won’t have changed that much.”
Windows Live, originally named Virtual Earth, was launched last week with the new Bird’s Eye View feature. The angled view of some of America’s largest cities is truely amazing and shows a much better view than the top-down view of Google. Right now Bird’s Eye View is only available in 12 large American cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, but more cities will be added soon.
Related links:
- Dutch politicians say Google Earth images help terrorists
- India: Google Maps Too Graphic
- Insurgents using Google Earth
- Google Earth Rocks Satellite Imagery World
Giants Stadium on Windows Live
May 16th, 2006 at 6:12 am
That is not a picture of the playboy mansion, it is certainly a mansion, but not the one that Hugh Hefner and his posse live in… try looking it up on Google…
August 10th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
I think society needs free access to information like this, it just needs to be controlled. think about people who can`t travel to Paris or Giza, who can visit those places through the internet, Live. It opens the mind to knowledge with no boundaries. Imagine using these tools in a class room. Aristotle, Plato, Ptolemy would never have dreamed of such level of power in the hands of teachers in front of young students. We just need to invest time and efforts to make this accessible, minimizing threats.
September 11th, 2006 at 11:06 am
This house is just east of the playboy mansion.
October 7th, 2006 at 10:06 am
Actually, this house is just west of the playboy mansion.
October 7th, 2006 at 10:11 am
Aaron Spelling’s house is just southwest of this and features a courtyard that looks like an oval pie sliced into 8 pieces.
June 16th, 2008 at 4:44 am
[...] Image Source: WOLFSTAD.com [...]