Most people don’t like to be caught with their pants down, and the Pentagon is no exception. That’s why it’s no surprise that Google Street View just received a request from the Pentagon asking for the removal of several street level maps that exposed too much of . . . the home base.

Entire web sites have grown up around the idea of finding candid, interesting, or funny shots of people and places through Google’s Street View service. But the Pentagon isn’t laughing.

Google “. . . has complied with a request by the Pentagon to remove some online images from its street-level map service because they pose a security threat to U.S. military bases, military and company officials . . .” according to Reuters.

Street View creates an ongoing challenge for the military as new images are continually added and most be monitored for security risks. Google spokesman Larry Yu says “in those instances where they (the U.S military) have expressed concerns about the imagery, we have accommodated their requests.”

But that begs the question, how many photos are slipping through the military’s net that could be used to exploit weaknesses in our bases? Of course, catching every questionable photo would be like similar to trying to censor the Internet.

The Pentagon is worried about images on the Google Street View service that show ” . . . where all the guards are. It shows how the barriers go up and down. It shows how to get in and out of buildings.”

Google’s policy is to only photograph subject material visible from a public road.

Related:

Entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm under Google, Security.

Read more entries by Matt Jansen.
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