Google vs government war over Street View

Bengaluru Police have made it clear that there shall be no collection of images by Google Inc for its street-view services.
Karnataka Home Minister R Ashok too has dashed off a letter to the Union government, requesting it not to permit Google to go ahead with this service.

Google the street view service in 27 countries. However, this service which allows a user to explore a neighbourhood through street-level images is not available in India as yet.

While Google faces this problem in Bengaluru, the issue may be similar across the country too. Intelligence Bureau reports are against the service, as they believe that it will only help terrorists access crucial information with more ease.

Post 26/11, a lot has changed in terms of India's security structure. The men who scouted targets relied heavily on Google Maps to locate their targets.

The IB says that although such services are not the only thing that terrorists rely upon, it still gives them a fair idea of what targets should be attacked.

Although Google has said that it would address the concerns, the road ahead looks tough.

Not only has Karnataka now said no to this service, but the Union Home Ministry too does not seem optimistic about it at the moment.

We want to minimise every luxury that terrorists may have, a source in the home department said, adding that unless we are sure that this service will not pose any security risk, permission cannot be granted.

However, the Bengaluru Police has made it clear that this service will only spell disaster.

The problem began last week when Google with its fleet of vehicles began shooting pictures of streets in Bengaluru. The police came into the picture and questioned them about the same.

According to the Bengaluru Police, they were told that they had permission from the commissioner to do so. However, when the matter was brought before the officer, he said they had only applied for permission and that the same had not been granted yet. The vehicles were then seized.

The matter was then taken before the Home Minister R Ashok, who immediately sought a report from the police regarding the same. The police in its report has made it clear that Bengaluru is very high on the terror target.

Moreover, it is home to several important installations such as the DRDO, IISC, ISRO among others. The fact that terrorists will look to target an IT city can also not be ruled out, the police added in their report.

To make matters worse for Google, some Bharatiya Janata Party members too submitted a memorandum to the Home Minister.
They too cited the same reasons in their memorandum.