Police Stops Google ‘Street View’ in India

Added by Gary Dunn on June 24, 2011

Police in India have ordered Google to halt their Street View project in fear that the information could be used by militants.

 

Google launched its Street View project, in which panoramic pictures are taken of the country and posted online, in India last month. However, Indian police has now ordered the technology giant to stop taking picture of the IT and technology hub of Bangalore, where the project was launched.

“Since Bangalore has been on the radar of terrorists and anti-national elements as a high target area, we are wary of its streets and localities being filmed and made available on Google Maps,” said T. Sunil Kumar, Bangalore additional police commissioner.

According to Kumar, Google needs to get permission from the ministry of home affairs and the ministry of external affairs should it wish to continue the project. Google, however, claims it received all the necessary authorisation before starting the project last month.

In response, Google released a statement that read: “We received a letter from Bangalore’s commissioner of police and are reviewing it. We will not be collecting any more images for Street View until we speak to the police… We expect to have any issues sorted out soon.”

While Street View is hugely poplar in the 25 or so countries that it operates in, it has also come up against several governments’ concerns about privacy.