Even the Pentagon can be bashful. Google's Street Views, which has drawn criticism from some privacy advocates, has acquiesced to Pentagon demands that it take down images that show entrances to military bases. The thorny part of this is that the images are taken from public places, raising issues about whether the Pentagon has overstepped its authority. Information Week's Google blog notes:
The government was concerned that the images, which included views of the entrances to military bases, were a threat. Gen. Gene Renuart, head of the military command responsible for homeland defense, said, "It actually shows where all the guards are. It shows how the barriers go up and down. It shows how to get in and out of buildings. I think that poses a real security risk for our military installations."
But the images were taken from public streets, where anyone could walk and take the same pictures and/or video and post them to the Internet. The question remains whether the government had the right to request that the images be removed. While that question is assuredly being debated, Google complied. Google spokesman Larry Yu said, "We have been contacted by the military. In those instances where they (the U.S military) have expressed concerns about the imagery, we have accommodated their requests."
Street Views has caused controversy from the start. Many privacy advocates claimed that even though images were taken in public places -- where no reasonable assumption of privacy really exists -- people were being exposed doing things they might not wish to have plastered on the Internet for all to see.
There are a number of interesting questions here, like: Does the Pentagon have the authority to order these images be removed?; if it doesn't, should Google remove them anyway?; If Google removes them, what happens when private citizens post video or images of these same places?
