Search engine marketing mogul Google, has been forced to remove images of classified government establishments, after releasing them on its Google Street View feature.
ITProPortal reports that Google has been ordered by the government to remove many of the photographs as they were in direct breach of the Official Secrets Act, which does not allow ”loitering, photography, or sketching” of secret intelligence facilities.
Buildings captured by Street View are reported to include the Special Air Services (SAS), Special Boat Services, MI5 headquarters and other highly influential top secret government locations.
Moreover, it has been argued that such facilities have warning signs outside, stipulating that the use of photography is prohibited. Google however, still decided to capture images of these establishments and post them for public consumption.
ITProPortal describes Google as ”happily ignoring the laws of the country” and making such images open to use by ”terrorists and other anti-social elements to plan violet and disruptive acts of terrorism.”
Google hit back, announcing that its drivers received training to stop any secret locations being photographed, but that any mistakes would be rectified quickly, commenting ”Google Street View is made up of images from public roads, so it’s to be expected that buildings that anyone can see walking down the street may appear.”
