May 8, 2008 7:32 pm US/Eastern
Westchester 'Blurs' Out Terror Targets On Google
County Says It's The Ultimate Proactive Step Against Potential Attacks; Major NYC Landmarks Clearly Visible
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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This is an obscured or "blurred" image of Westchester County Airport. Many of the county's government buildings are blurred out on Google Maps.
CBS
Westchester County calls it a proactive measure to stop terrorists from snooping online. Certain county facilities have been obscured on "Google Maps," making them impossible to see clearly.
But as CBS 2 HD found out, this is one security measure that is far from fool proof.
To you a parking lot seen on Google is just that, a parking lot. But to Westchester officials it's a potential terror target. So the county "obscured" the lot and the county office building behind it, made it look "blurry" on satellite images provided to Google Maps, one of the most popular sites on the Internet.
"We took proactive measures to make it that much harder for the bad guys," said Westchester County Homeland Security Director Harry Rosenthal.
Rosenthal says it only makes sense for Westchester to censor satellite images of certain targets to thwart terror.
But New York City and other governments apparently haven't gotten the message. Westchester has obscured the county airport, but JFK International is clearly visible on Google Maps.
The White Plains train station is censored, but the Metro North Harlem station and Grand Central Station are clear as a bell.
Professor Ralph Stein tracks Homeland Security issues at Pace University, and says no serious terrorist would be deterred by Westchester's blurred images on Google Maps.
"You could say that the city is showing common sense in not trying to take a useless step," Stein said. "Everything obscured by Google is available from some other satellite source on-line. It's as simple as that."
It's as simple as going to Yahoo! Maps, a rival service to Google.
Every county site obscured on Google is clearly visible on Yahoo!, including this terror target parking lot behind the county office building. The county airport may be blurred on Google, but not on Yahoo!, so too is the Indian Point Nuclear Plant – censored on Google – but on Yahoo! Has a clear bird's eye view.
"The fact that Yahoo! doesn't initiate the same process as Google doesn't mean it's not a good proactive idea," Rosenthal said, adding Westchester will hide what it must from the public – to keep the public safe.
Google uses images from a state database, which is why Westchester was able to censor them. Yahoo! Images come from a private sector company.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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