Pentagon Bans Google From Military Bases

Pentagon officials notified Defense Department bases and installations within the U.S. last week to prohibit Google representatives from taking panoramic videos inside the facilities. The Pentagon message cited security risks in making detailed street-level maps freely available on the Google Maps public Web site.

Street View is part of the Google Maps Web site that displays panoramic views to a specific user-selected location.

The Pentagon policy follows an incident in which detailed images of a Texas military base ended up on Google’s Web site. 

For its part, Google said taking such pictures is against its policy and that the incident was a mistake.  

Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, told Associated Press on Thursday that the decision to issue a formal ban was made after at least one Google crew was permitted access to Fort Sam Houston. Gen. Renuart said he was concerned that allowing the 360-degree, street-level view to become publicly available could provide sensitive information to potential adversaries and possibly endanger base personnel.

It’s a worry, Renuart said, because 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."

Google spokesman Larry Yu said the company’s crew had mistakenly asked for access to a base.

"It is against our policy to request access to military bases for the purpose of capturing imagery in Street View," he told Associated Press, adding that the company removed the imagery within 24 hours after being contacted by government officials.

The Pentagon warning comes only a few days after reports that protesters in London used the Google Earth Web Site to plot roof access to Britain’s Parliament building.

Gen. Renuart emphasized the Google ban was not an attack against the popular Internet company, but rather a concern about the unintended effects of an otherwise good technology.  He added that military officials have been in touch with representatives at Google.

"Google was very appreciative of us letting them know that we had a concern," he said. "They understand the security implications, and they have given us no indication that they would not be helpful to us if we asked."

According to the message sent by U.S. Northern Command to military installations around the country, Google representatives were granted their request to access Fort Sam Houston.

"Once given access they took panoramic images of the area with roof-mounted recording equipment," the message said. "These images were placed on the Internet for public access." The imagery included panoramic views of entry gates, barriers, headquarters and other facilities.

The message ordered military bases to ban such photography and report any incidents where such access was granted or any vehicles that may have surveillance capabilities.

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On the Net:

U.S. Northern Command: http://www.northcom.mil/

Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?hlen&tabwl