Google Street View - Update

[Curtis Baillie]

The U.S. Department of Defense has banned Google from entering Military bases to take pictures for it's 'Street View' service. This ban comes after the service posted pictures of the base, Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX.

Read the story here.

Here's the original thread.

[olivera]

I think they did right thing by banning that service... cause of the security issue.
It would be same as come to the bank and ask them how you could break in and take the money without getting spotted or something...
Anyways,if those photos would be posted it would endanger bases directly.

[Bill Warnock]

Curt, I sure like to know who waived the requirements of 18 USC 795, Photographing and Sketching of Defense Installations. It had to have come from somebody pretty high up in the Chain of Command. If they were using aircraft, they had to have a waiver or exception to the "Use of aircraft for photographing defense installations."
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[SecTrainer]

Had an interesting experience with Street View about a month ago. I was looking up directions to a new consulting client and ran across an SV which was so detailed (you can do a 360-degree swivel) that I spotted a security risk in the form of an obvious biker bar across the street from the facility even before I had set foot on the place! Now, I would have obviously seen this when I arrived at the site, but it was lots nicer to know about this the day before my appointment and bring some biker gang crime statistics with me. It was like I was psychic or something!

Obviously, though, the ability to get this kind of visual information has tremendous reverse implications for surveillance and terrorism as well.

[Curtis Baillie]

Bill - The 'Street View' service uses vans with 360 degree cameras. Someone had to let them on the base. In the last few years I have been on many military bases here in the U.S. and Europe. They don't just let you drive past the gate and wave.

[SecTrainer]

Bill - The 'Street View' service uses vans with 360 degree cameras. Someone had to let them on the base. In the last few years I have been on many military bases here in the U.S. and Europe. They don't just let you drive past the gate and wave.

They most certainly do not! I have meetings about 3 times a year at a local army base. I've waited up to 30 minutes for clearance even with an appointment, and once or twice had an MP escort to my meeting. It's impossible to imagine that a Google van could enter without permission.

[Chucky]

Guess it would depend on if it was a gated or open base. I have never been to Ft Sam but if it was open then access would be no problem. Last I knew FT Riley Kansas was an open base. Of course Timothy McVeigh probably put an end to that since that is the area he and friends operated from.

[Pat Murphy]

Ft. Sam Houston

What's funny about that is that Ft. Sam Houston is all buildings...wood buildings from WWII. However it does house the Army Intelligence Division so maybe that's why they got all in a twit. The base can be driven through because it's now surrounded by old subdivisions. It is a very small place.

[Bill Warnock]

Pat, some of those wooden buildings were built just prior and during WWI. My dad had pictures from Camps Houston, Knox, D. A. Russell and others when he was in the US Cavalry between the wars.
Enjoy the day,
Bill