One of the things I like about Google is their ingenuity and the fact that they are always one step ahead of the competition. If you don’t agree with me then that’s fine, but just look at their search engine as an example. Or how about their street maps? Before Google unleashed their mighty street-mapping teams we had the standard map systems, which were good and all, but now we have the satellite aerial views, which in my opinion go a step beyond the standard maps of yesterday. Have you ever used the Google maps to find directions somewhere? How about looking at those aerial images they got? You can even look at your own house from high above. It’s a very cool concept and one that I have enjoyed since Google first started it. Of course a little ingenuity and advancement is not without its problems. It would appear that the United States Military has a completely different opinion of the Google street maps than I do. The word is out that the Pentagon has banned the Google street-mapping teams from taking photographs inside of military bases after it was discovered that Google published street images on their site showing aerial views of Fort Sam Houston military base in Texas. Now Google did remove the images at the U.S. Military’s request and it was reported by the Google street-mapping teams that they were granted permission on the base as they were capturing the images around San Antonio, where the base is located. Google admits that it was clearly a misunderstanding between both parties.

This wouldn’t be the first time that the Google Street View team has found itself in a controversial situation. There have been reports of the team capturing images of people in compromising situations, to include sunbathing women, men about to enter into strip clubs and motorists being given a ticket by the “boys in blue”. However, in this case, the Dept. of Defense stated that the images compromised the base security. U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, was quoted as saying that the images of the base showed the location of guards, details about barrier operation and building portals.

Now, what I don’t understand is that if the Google Street View team was able to capture images of the inside of a military base, then I believe anybody could do the exact same thing. It is definitely possible and shows a vulnerability to our military we weren’t aware of. In fact, the military needs to thank Google for showing them their own vulnerabilities. What do you think? Please leave a comment and speak out.

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