India Forms Expert Group on Google Earth Images

Digital Inspiration writes "According to Yahoo News, the Indian Government, 'concerned over satellite images of its strategic installations being made available in the public domain by internet search engine Google, has decided to constitute an expert group to suggest ways to safeguard the country's interests.' Earlier, The President of India expressed concerns that terrorists could use Google Earth to plan assaults on the Indian parliament, the President's house and government offices in New Delhi, all of which show up clearly in Google Earth's photos. Google Earth has expressed its readiness to have discussions with the Government regarding the issue."

mmm

[mallmall]

we can finally find their hidden birdie num-nums

Security Through Obscurity

[affliction]

When will they realize that just because it's blurred out in the picture, doesn't mean the building disappeared?

Too dumb for words.

[HillaryWBush]

Call this office and tell them you will NOT be building your next call center in India if they keep trying to censor the Internet!

Office of the Development Commissioner
Kandla Special Economic Zone
Ministry of Commerce & Industry Government of India
Gandhidham-370 230
Gujarat
Phone: [phone], 52475, 52273
Fax: [phone]

"This just in"

[i41Overlord]

After hearing concerns voiced by every government on Earth, Google has agreed to only show satellite images of the oceans. This is to prevent terrorists from using sensitive data revealed by the images.

Re:Security Through Obscurity

[Decaff]

When will they realize that just because it's blurred out in the picture, doesn't mean the building disappeared?

It just means someone was taking it away real fast.

I have an idea

[bitspotter]

Just have them write an "X-No-Archive:" header on their lawn, specifiying the dimensions not to include.

Hey, it works for Google web search and Groups!

Re:Too dumb for words.

[Geno Z Heinlein]

Call this office and tell them you will NOT be building your next call center in India if they keep trying to censor the Internet!

I tried to call the Ministry to complain, but I ended up talking to some chick with a thick Brooklyn accent and neither one of us could understand what the other was saying.

Re:I have an idea

[FeriteCore]

Yellow circles in a particular pattern might just do it. At least you wouldn't be able to print the pictures.

I wonder what's next

[nnnneedles]

Imagine, if the terrists had access to....a MAP!

Re:Don't give them ideas!

[IAAP]

It happens all the time! Why, just the other day I was Googling for clams. And what did I get? Listings of vaginas! Go figure!

Re:"This just in"

[iPaige]

This just in - Atlantis brings forth further objections on this "Google Earth - Oceanic Edition"

Re:I have an idea

[Varun Soundararajan]

a better idea is to place a file called map.txt in every building and tell which part should be allowed to be mapped and which part not to be mapped. All sites or part of the sites to be allowed (disallowed) should clearly be written with the heading "Allow:" ("Disallow:") . Also, we should make all satellites to respect map.txt :).

Other solutions the group might want to consider

[itail]

And I was thinking [blogspot.com], why should Google go out of its way to blur the Indian buildings ? You want your buildings blurred ? I say build them blurred in the first place... !
On the same note, here are other solutions the Indian experts might want to consider:

• Cover your nuclear reactors with huge shades, paint them with clouds from below and trees from above.
• Paint your airport buildings roofs with reflective paint (effective in daylight sweeps only !)
• Create a "building cover" by sewing together thousands of car covers. Cover your governmental buildings before Google sweeps (need inside information here...), remove afterwards.
• Place a huge magnifying glass over your atomic establishments (Risk involved).
• Place a huge mirror over your submarine base, reflect the bastards.
• Place a huge monitor over your Prime Minister's residences, facing the sky. Broadcast what a second satellite views just a few kilometers away.
• Cover your police stations with small mountains.
• Build your army bases over modular wheeled plates. Shift them around regularly.

On a more serious note (?) Google should definitely have a "blur API" you can use to request to blur your buildings. What about painting a huge crossed "G" over required rooftops ?

Re:Dear governments of Earth...

[Anonymous Coward]

The cat disagrees. There are no bigger problems than its!

Re:Other solutions the group might want to conside

[AndroidCat]

Another idea: Cover lots of useless locations with giant "blur cover" tarps to make it look like Google is hiding something important.

Re:Security through obscurity

[AndroidCat]

Look it shows all the ingress and egress routes for an Assassination of the President of India at his house!

Put a big physical sign near the house, readable in the pictures, that says "Good place to slip past guards" (in the appropriate language), with an arrow pointing to the landmine and beartrap patch.

Re:Area 51

[Gwyn_232]

They should wait until Google Maps is updated, and then move all the buildings around.

Re:I wonder what's next

[markiv34]

What if terrorists could read. Seriously, though Indian government is doing what every other government in this position would do, divert attention. With rise in poverty, govt failing to provide people with potable water, electricity, housing, health care and not to mention the high rate of unemployment. The best, perhaps the wisest move on the part of Indian governemtn would be diverting from the issue so that the common man in India does not realize how he/she has been taken for a ride by the gove in the name of National Security and Patriotism. How about banning eating cows in India a country where people do die of hunger, wait that's already the case.

Re:Area 51

[ozmanjusri]

include residences of the Prime Minister

I'm an Australian, and I'd be very happy if our Prime Minister was under the ground.