"You can get the same (scouting) information just by walking around" with a map and a GPS device, says John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a research organization specializing in defense and intelligence policy. The imagery "may give someone precise coordinates (for a target), but they need precise weapons … and their ability to target discrete parts of a particular site is pretty limited. People who think this gives you magical powers watch too many Tom Clancy movies."
Safeguards
Nonetheless, the world's governments have taken a variety of steps in response to the emergence of Google Earth and other commercial imagery sources, according to a confidential report issued in July by the CIA's Open Source Center and made public by the Federation of American Scientists. Among them:
•Negotiation. Some nations have asked Google and other companies to keep certain images off the market, the report says. For example, Google Earth uses older imagery of parts of Iraq based on British concerns about exposing military sites. Commercial satellite companies often blur images of sensitive U.S. sites, such as the Pentagon.
•Bans. China has barred websites selling "unapproved" commercial imagery, according to the report, and Sudan has banned Google Earth. In 2006, Bahrain officials banned Google Earth, but the CIA report notes that the move may have been mainly to "prevent exposure of elaborate residences and land holdings of the country's rich."
•Buying in. Several countries, such as China and Thailand, are getting into the satellite imagery business themselves, and India sells its spy photos commercially, the report says. Many countries that lack their own satellite capability have become enthusiastic purchasers of commercial imagery to meet intelligence and security needs.
•Evasion. Many countries have stepped up efforts to conceal sensitive facilities, either by putting them underground or camouflaging them, the report says. Others, such as India, have improved their ability to discern when satellites pass overhead, which allows them to conduct sensitive military activities when cameras aren't watching.
"We actively engage with organizations and governments … to strike a balance between their security concerns and the needs of the end user," says Chikai Ohazama, Google Earth's product management director. Sensitive sites often are obscured by satellite operators before Google even gets the imagery, he adds. It often doesn't matter "because the imagery already is available from other places."
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