Back in May I asked if Google Earth was a threat to national security. At the time, Robert Murrett, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (a small U.S. spy agency), suggested that some images from Google Earth - and other satellite mapping services - should be withheld from the public for security reasons.

He’s not alone.

The Globe and Mail is reporting that the head of the U.S. Air Force intelligence and surveillance thinks Google Earth poses a serious danger:

[Lt. General David] Deptula cited Google Inc.’s Google Earth, which gives Web users an astronaut’s view of the earth and allows them to zoom down to street level. He said it had provided anyone with a credit card the ability to get a picture of any place on earth.

“It is huge,” he said. “It’s something that was a closely guarded secret not that long ago and now everybody’s got access to it.”

Deptula goes on to say that he realizes little can be done now. He also said that he knew of no plans by the U.S. government to place restrictions on the imagery. Instead, he told The Globe and Mail, camo and deception are being used to minimize the damage done to military security.

This is the third major attack on Google Earth’s security implications in 6 months:

• January 15, 2007: Google Earth printouts of British military bases are found amongst documents seized from Iraqi insurgents

• May 10, 2007: Calls from U.S. spy organization to restrict access to satellite imagery found in Google Earth

• June 22, 2007: (Today’s story) Air Force intelligence questions security risk posed by public access to satellite imagery

Lt. Gen. Deptula makes a good point, though. It’s really too late to do anything about the existing products. Millions of people around the world already have access to said imagery. It’d be nearly impossible to get that information out of the hands of the public.

It would, however, be possible to restrict further updates to that data. The companies that supply the satellite imagery to Google and other makers of mapping services routinely re-fly areas to take updated photos. It would be entirely possible for governments to restrict where these flyovers could take place. It wouldn’t do much for existing data. But it could help make sure that data was outdated.

I’m a big fan of Google Earth and I use it routinely for everything from simple geographic research to entertainment. I love the layers and add-ons that make the program into a virtual encyclopedia of information. But I can also understand the security risks it poses. And I doubt Google really ever thought about the implications of their actions when they were designing the product.

Do you think governments should restrict data collected for the purpose of commercial satellite imagery applications? Would you still use Google Earth (or other mapping services) if sensitive areas around the globe contained outdated information?