Call for ban on 'Google Earth'

09 December 2008

When former President Abdul Kalam expressed concerns of Google Earth's unrestricted access to visual images of sensitive locations in India, nobody really paid much heed.

Though Google Earth had agreed to address the Indian security agencies' concerns by showing "fuzzy, low-resolution or distorted pictures'' of sensitive military and scientific establishments on the web, nothing really happened.

After the terrifying outcome of terror groups accessing Google Earth to identify the location of the Taj and Trident to mount a vicious attack on the two high profile targets, Amit Karkhanis, a Mumbai-based advocate has moved the Bombay High Court seeking a "complete ban on Google Earth and similar sites like Wikimapia''.

It has become evident that the terrorists who targeted Mumbai had utilised GPS systems to navigate their way to Mumbai by sea, communicated through satellite phones using several different SIM cards. They might also have kept tabs on the entire development with the help of handheld Blackberry web browsers.

The advocate filed a public interest litigation (PIL), stating that these websites have photographs and "extremely accurate navigational coordinates'' open to viewers without any form of filtering or security. The security of even sensitive establishments such as BARC, Naval dockyards, corporate and government establishments and Rashtrapati Bhavan can be compromised, Karkhanis said in his petition.

The combination of Google Maps or Wikimapia and a satellite phone is the perfect lethal ingredient the terrorists need to lay their plans with precision and accuracy thereby defeating the security designs of the government.