Reports suggest that Google Earth might have put the top secret British nuclear defence headquarters, at the Faslane HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland, at risk from terrorist attack after the satellite mapping shows clear images of the facility.
The images are highly detailed and even show a couple of Vanguard Class submarines docked. Newspaper reports recount how a couple of years back Google was asked to blur British military bases in Iraq as well as certain strategic military installations in the UK on grounds of national security. I am led to believe that updates to Google Earth have meant that those previously blotted out areas are now visible once more.
These areas include the Faslane site, the nearby Trident Special Area (where the British nuclear submarine fleet store warheads) and further afield the SAS training facility in Hereford. The latter details everything from sleeping quarters to bunkers.
The Sun claims that senior officers in the military are "furious that such sites can be viewed by anyone" and that the Ministry of Defence is struggling to "maintain the security of all the UK's sensitive military sites."
A Google spokesperson declined to comment upon government requests for the obfuscation of military sites.
Given that there is even a Google Earth for mobile devices it would appear that without some kind of national security collaboration the application could be something of a terrorist wet dream. It would not seem to be a great leap for Google which has already banned violent Islamist videos following pressure from the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.