So there’s this guy,‚ Amit Karkhanis, who went to a court in India and pleaded that Google Earth be banned in the country, TimesOnline reports.
For those who don’t know, it is suspected that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks used Google Earth to help plan their mission last month, which led to the deaths of nearly 180 and the injuries of more than 300.
This isn’t the only time GE has been used for evil. ‚ British officials learned that the program was used to plan the attacks on a British base in Basra, Iraq last year. ‚ The Iraqi insurgents used the images to plan a detailed attack on the base as clear images of individual building were accessible.
After that, Google replaced the images with predated ones, before the base was even constructed.
As of two days ago, India’s most important atomic facility, the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC)‚ remained‚ viewable on GE, even after a complaint was filed last year.
Indian officials have increased security at airports amid hijacking threats. ‚ It is one possibility, sources say, that someone could hijack a plane and fly it into BARC, which would cause a huge nuclear explosion.
Makes sense to replace some images, like the one of BARC, with less‚ compromising‚ ones. ‚ That being said, should the whole program be banned in a country where terrorist attacks have been so prevalent, especially over the last few years?
Not a bad pre-emptive strike.
I dont think the answer to the misuse of Google earth is to ban it . Google earth has its advantages and disadvantages. Misuse of advanced technology is not new ,but banning it is not the answer.
the terrorist used boats to come in are we banning that, instead if we focused our energy in trying to secure the country border it will be more effective.