Most of the very high-resolution images on Google Earth are actually aerial photos, not satellite photos that means they’ve been taken from within a nation’s airspace and are therefore subject to that nation’s rules and regulations. Such instances occur because governments can, in certain cases, exert control over Google’s third-party image providers. Or Soesterberg Air Base and Huis Ten Bosch Palace in the Netherlands, which are represented by choppy pixels. Some locations seen on Google Earth, however, do appear to have been altered: See, for example, the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., home of the vice president, where everything within the road encircling the Observatory is blurrier than everything surrounding it. (She denied reports that Google had agreed to distort images of certain Indian locations in 2007 but acknowledges that the company did have conversations with government officials.) A Google spokeswoman told the Explainer that this is the only image alteration the company has made due to a governmental request. In response, Google replaced its satellite shots of Basra with an earlier set of photos, taken before the war began. But it has fielded requests to do so in the past-as in 2007, for example, when British troops discovered that insurgents in Basra had been printing out detailed Google Earth images of U.K. Google doesn’t automatically exclude photos of locations that might represent a security risk, such as nuclear facilities or the homes of political VIPs.

The attackers targeted public areas whose locations were already available on printed maps, but can a government ask Google to exclude images of more sensitive areas from Google Earth? Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the city’s exiled mayor, has said Russia destroyed what remained of the theatre to “hide war crimes”.The 10 gunmen who terrorized Mumbai last week used Google Earth to plot their attacks, according to statements made by the sole captured terrorist. By December, Russia had begun to demolish the building’s remains. At the time, authorities said 300 people had been killed, but the Associated Press said their investigations put the number closer to 600.Īmnesty International condemned the bombing as “a clear war crime”. It’s thought that about 1,200 people were inside. More than a thousand took refuge in the central drama theatre, which had once been a focal point of city life.Īs more residents gathered in the basement, someone spelled out the word DETI – children – in giant Russian letters in front of the building.Īround 10am on 16 March, Russia bombed the building. Weeks into the siege, as homes became uninhabitable and routes out of the city were closed off, many residents moved into public shelters. Google maps imagery shows the Ukrainian city of Mariupol before and after the Russian invasion Google maps imagery from the centre of Mariupol

Google earth map view not satellite