Google's Street View "Off the Map" at U.S. Military Bases

There has been much made of Google Maps' Street View feature and privacy concerns. The public isn't alone in those concerns, as the Pentagon has forced Google to remove imagery of streets near military bases from Street View.

The Pentagon has also banned Google teams from entering military bases as well. Google did say it was against policy to request access to military bases for the purpose of capturing Street View images, and that the images in question were removed within 24 hours after the request was made.

What's interesting is that the request to remove / ban was made, according to Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, after a Google team requested - and was granted access - to Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Some guard wasn't too on the ball, apparently.

Renuart said such views can show "where all the guards are, it shows how the barriers go up and down, it shows how to get in and out of buildings, and I think that poses a real security risk to our military installations."

Yes, that all makes sense, and Google's Street View feature has been under fire since the beginning, as I said, for privacy concerns. In fact, Canada feels that Street View may break Canadian privacy law.

Still without Street View, those with prurient interests wouldn't get to look at views like above. Seriously though, you can already get pretty good satellite imagery of military bases (Andrews Air Force Base, above). If they are that concerned, why have they not shut that down? Oops, maybe I'd better not give them any ideas.