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California Assemblyman Joel Anderson
Blur online maps to thwart terror, Calif. lawmaker says
By Andrew Heining | 03.11.09
From the “Does this seem fuzzy to you?” department:
California Assemblyman Joel Anderson has proposed legislation that would require companies such as Google that offer online mapping tools to blur satellite images of schools, hospitals, churches, and government buildings or face hefty fines.
“We heard from terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks last year that they used Google Maps to select their targets and get knowledge about their targets. Hamas has said they were using Google Maps to target children’s schools,” Mr. Anderson, a Republican from the San Diego area, told Computerworld.
The measure, AB-255, can be read online here, and includes the following:
(a)An operator of a commercial Internet Web site or online service that makes a virtual globe browser available to members of the public shall not provide aerial or satellite photographs or imagery of a building or facility in this state that is identified on the Internet Web site by the operator as a school or place of worship, or a government or medical building or facility, unless those photographs or images have been blurred.
(b)An operator of a commercial Internet Web site or online service that makes a virtual globe browser available to members of the public shall not provide street view photographs or images of the buildings and facilities described in subdivision (a).
CNET’s Charles Cooper interviewed Assemblyman Anderson Tuesday, and asked him if the motivation behind terrorist attacks ought to be what is addressed, rather than the technology.
His response: “I’m not against the technology; it’s fantastic. But we’re in an evolving world and we have to change our course as it changes. I’m all for online mapping, but knowing where the air ducts are in an air shaft is not necessary for me to navigate in the city. Who wants to know that level of detail? Bad people do.”
Anderson says the bill, which, if passed would only affect California, was likely to go to committee next week, and that its language would most likely change. He has already spoken with Microsoft about the measure, and has expressed interest in discussing it with Google soon.
For a look at some of the surprising things you can find on Google Maps, check out this gallery of curious finds, put together by CSMonitor.com’s Jake Turcotte.
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2. David | 03.11.09
This is another example of a certain kind of mentality: the kind that wants us all to live in a prison, a prison where everything about our lives must be controlled by someone else because doing so MIGHT protect us from some possible attack from bad people. The truth is, even in actual prisons with guards and lock downs, violence, drugs, and dangerous ideas still exist. Regardless of all the laws that we may enact, we’re not going to live in a perfectly safe world. I’d rather live in a free world, even if it is dangerous. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take reasonable steps to protect ourselves, but the real way to discourage terrorism is to fight injustice and to attempt to understand the motivations behind those who feel so desperate as to be willing to blow themselves up to affect some kind of change.
3. Sally | 03.11.09
I don’t think it is a dumb idea-frankly the amount of information available on through Google Earth and Google Street view disturbs me considerably. Sure, you can’t devise a perfectly safe world. But do you really need the entire world to be able to pull up a picture of your front lawn at will?
As someone who once had to deal with a stalker, I’d rather be allowed to fly “under the radar” a bit.
4. carver | 03.11.09
And how is this going to discourage terrorist? Wouldn’t city maps (that clearly mark schools, churches and government sites also need to be “blurred”? And how about photos and videos of those sites?
All this is is a fabricated problem that Anderson hopes will give him mojo with the paranoid voter.
5. Theodore | 03.12.09
A public vote would not permit such restrictions. Most people want to see more stuff in more detail than we can now, like cats sunning themselves on a porch, or the number of eggs in a bird’s nest. We want to be able to see the bomb sitting on the park bench before it explodes.
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1. Eric | 03.11.09
This is the dumbest idea I have ever heard. Google Earth does not foster terrorism. Get a hobby buddy!