Google Took Illegal Street View Pictures of SAS HQ
Google was last week forced to remove a set of images from Google Street View after it emerged that the photos showed the location of the SAS base in Credenhill, Herefordshire, UK.
A lot of people have problems with Google Street View. The UK, Greece and Japan have all expressed discontent when it comes to the service, particularly when it comes to an individual's privacy. This past weekend, Google came under fire for accidentally publishing images of the SAS base on the Internet. The secret base of the Special Air Service has never before appeared on maps for security reasons. Late on Friday, Google said it had no plans to remove the images as the photos were taken from a public road.
"One in five people already use Google Street View for house hunting and the scheme has previously launched in 20 countries without any breach of security issues," the Telegraph cites a Google Spokesperson as saying. "Google only takes images from public roads and this is no different to what anyone could see travelling down the road themselves, therefore there is no appreciable security risk. We're happy to discuss any concerns as they arise."
However, with military sources talking about terrorists using the maps to plot an attack, it seems Google has changed its tune. The images have been removed but apparently, this isn't the first time Google has photographed protected buildings.
The Telegraph reports that Google has snapped pictures sensitive buildings around the UK, including Special Boat Service and Special Air Service bases, a Government atomic weapons research centre, security services’ eavesdropping centers and MI5 headquarters. According to the Telegraph, in a photo taken outside the SBS headquarters, warning can clearly be seen stating, “Prohibited place within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act. Loitering, photography, sketching forbidden.” The warning is highlighted in red.
A Google spokesperson is quoted as saying, "Our drivers are trained not to take photographs where this is prohibited by law, but if mistakes are made we will act quickly to remove the images."
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Awesome... I can see where having everything show can be a problem... I hope they drive through area 51 that way I can see if the old arcade is what is really goin down there.
In all seriousness though I personally love Street View on my Phone for navigating.
leave google maps alone they helped me so much I'm horrible at navigating
How come 'The Man' can spy on us with no privacy concerns, but they have such a problem when the tables turn?
BTW, The street view pics capturing that kid crashing his bike is Epic!
How come 'The Man' can spy on us with no privacy concerns, but they have such a problem when the tables turn?BTW, The street view pics capturing that kid crashing his bike is Epic!
The government put up signs, in RED, stating that pictures were a no-no. Do you have a sign? I do, I hang it around my neck. No one is photographing me without expressed, written consent.
Next news item..."SAS storms Google, seizes illegal photographs."
And following..."SAS find weapons cache at Google, plans to take over the world"
Google Maps are a real Hoot!
They can't even get a lot of addresses correct and when you try to make any corrections for say your home town, they just ignore your attempts, even when you're a registered Google Maps user.
For my town, they've got businesses as being located everywhere but where they are actually located Such as a mile away, in the middle of a river and so on. They just ignore any attempts to apprise them of their mistakes.
Plus the Google Maps Satellite images are at least 4 years or more out of date.
GEEZ! you can drive or walk by and see an entrance to a military installation but you cannot photograph the entrance.
"However, with military sources talking about terrorists using the maps to plot an attack, it seems Google has changed its tune."
Yes, because there is no other way to plot it...like going there and having a look yourself.
"after it emerged that the photos showed the location of the SAS base in Credenhill, Herefordshire, UK."
Thats what I don't understand. People know where these places are anyway. I'm sure if you had planned an elaborate terrorist attack, you'd already know where you were attacking, regardless of if the place is on street view or not.
again if its from a public road...wtf put up walls if you dont want pictures taken of your super T/S-SCI crap, public road...
If its that close to a public road, then I would bet they have much more then google to worry about. 80%+ of the people driving by have cell phones and cameras anyway.
It sounds to me like they need to extend their perimeter to the point where people on PUBLIC ROADS can not see anything sensitive enough that your not allowed to take pictures of it. Let me guess, people driving by are also forced to stop and have their memory wiped too?
Yawn!!! The only thing I don't understand is why people in the UK are so up in arms about Google Street View. You could find everything here in the US on Street View, and there are no issues.
My question is....how did google get the pictures? and If this a SAS base, who allowed them within the base? JMO
Why can't they just render 3D images instead of acutally taking photographs? It's really annoying sometiems their "bad people have something to hide" motto. I'm not a bad person IMO, but I don't like being photographed without my consent. With all the money involed in taking the pics, it's much much cheaper to render the street (wich can be improved with customer support) and get a better result in the way.
On this particular case, it's kinda over-reacted, true. But they have the "don't take pictures" sign for a reason: People around the facilities! Terrorists can do harm to people around the facilities to get something, no doubt in that.
Cheers!
Whatever happened to learning how to read a paper map?
The excitement and adventure of taking a road trip has all but been completely lost as a result of Google maps and GPS's.
"The secret base of the Special Air Service has never before appeared on maps for security reasons."
So it was a secret base that was not marked on any map. So how was google supposed to know what they were taking pictures of?? The artical does not say that this particular base was marked with signs warning against photography and that would kind of defeat the purpose of it being a "secret base."
No wonder the British are the dumbest people in Europe; closely followed by the Italian who sues the messenger.
"The secret base of the Special Air Service has never before appeared on maps for security reasons."So it was a secret base that was not marked on any map. So how was google supposed to know what they were taking pictures of?? The artical does not say that this particular base was marked with signs warning against photography and that would kind of defeat the purpose of it being a "secret base."
Heh, there is probably a sign out front that reads: Special Air Service Secret Base.
Seriously, though, terrorists are not stupid. If they are scanning through Google maps looking for potential targets, a location becomes immediately conspicuous by its absence on the map.
Yeah I don't for the life of me understand the problem some people have with google maps. I mean, this specific instance I can understand, but for the other stuff? GTFO, its the digital age baby, can't stop the flow.
Why can't they just render 3D images instead of acutally taking photographs? It's really annoying sometiems their "bad people have something to hide" motto. I'm not a bad person IMO, but I don't like being photographed without my consent. With all the money involed in taking the pics, it's much much cheaper to render the street (wich can be improved with customer support) and get a better result in the way.On this particular case, it's kinda over-reacted, true. But they have the "don't take pictures" sign for a reason: People around the facilities! Terrorists can do harm to people around the facilities to get something, no doubt in that.Cheers!
Seriously? Rendering images of street view wouldn't help anything. Right now I assume they just have an eight-way camera that they take pics with every so and so seconds or distance, with images saved to disc. Any decent 3d rendering like that wouldn't be possible in realtime and it would be pointless anyway as you'd still see all the stuff, just in worse quality and looking artificial (you forget the point of street view anyway...).
This is clearly the best method for them and for people who use it...
News flash. If your base is right beside a public road, it's probably not really a secret.
Like terrorists need google maps to find these places, what a joke, they just need to walk down the street!
Yeah, love it - government stupidity at it's finest. I would think that something so super secret wouldn't have warning signs all around saying 'secret government facility nearby, don't take pictures'.
No wonder the British are the dumbest people in Europe; closely followed by the Italian who sues the messenger.
It's okay, we won't take offence at such a dumb comment, though we'd like you to back it up with facts.
Incidentally, I don't mind Google Street View, and I'm willing to bet most of the UK couldn't give a toss either. We have cameras everywhere; what's one more?
No wonder the British are the dumbest people in Europe; closely followed by the Italian who sues the messenger.
http://www.china-profile.com/data/tab_citations_2a.htm
If you look at papers per capita, even though the population is about 10 million out, because they took the population of the entire of the UK, that puts us in the top three for science research.
Not to mention our economy is built on knowledge rather than physical labour.
I really dont understand where you've picked up this idea from.
We have the most critical media, so the idiotic minority are publicized, but that doesn't mean the rest of Europe doesn't have idiots.
May I ask where you are from?
I don't know how I managed to screw up that statistic so badly.
But please don't take that into consideration when judging British people.
=]
Soon the terrorists will blow up the black missing photo holes!
Can you see these pictures in other countries or are they blocked in the UK?
chunkymonster: Whatever happened to learning how to read a paper map? The excitement and adventure of taking a road trip has all but been completely lost as a result of Google maps and GPS's.
This is someone who is not embracing the digital age, yet reads about new technologies here on Tom's. Hey chunkymonster, do you read about new technologies from computer magazines? Has Tom's and other electronics review websites taken the excitement and adventure of travelling to your local magazine and newspaper stand? People have more choices today, if they really want the excitement you are talking about they can just go get a map and get on the road. If they run a delivery business maybe Google Maps and GPS can be more useful. More choices, dude!