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Google 'reckless' on NI security Google 'reckless' on NI security
(20 minutes later)
Google has been branded as "reckless and stupid" for including photos of the perimeters of police stations and army barracks in NI on a new service. An assembly member has branded Google "reckless" for including photos of the perimeters of police stations and army barracks in NI on a new service.
The street-mapping facility launched in a fanfare of publicity but some images have been removed after complaints.The street-mapping facility launched in a fanfare of publicity but some images have been removed after complaints.
The entrance gates of most police stations in Belfast are visible. Two soldiers were shot dead outside an Army barracks in Antrim two weeks ago. Two soldiers were shot dead outside an Army barracks in Antrim two weeks ago. Ian Paisley Jnr, DUP, said Google had "given security services a headache".
Ian Paisley Jnr, DUP, said Google had "given security services a headache". But Google said it only showed images visible from a public street.
"This endangers the public," said Mr Paisley, an assembly member and member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. The Street View service launched on Thursday and Google said it had gone to great lengths to ensure privacy.
The entrance gates and perimeters of most police stations in greater Belfast are visible on the service.
In one photo, viewed by BBC Northern Ireland, the number plate of a car entering a police station was unblurred.
Mr Paisley, an assembly member and member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said it was "incredibly stupid."
"This endangers the public," said Mr Paisley,
"Even though the images can be removed they are now out there."Even though the images can be removed they are now out there.
"It will be a case of bolting the stable door. The people who have been viewing the images should be traced by the security services.""It will be a case of bolting the stable door. The people who have been viewing the images should be traced by the security services."
Ian Paisley Jnr believes the service has been "reckless"
The issue of security has become paramount in Northern Ireland again following the dissident republican murders of the two soldiers outside Masserene Army barracks in Antrim on 7 March and the killing of a policeman in County Armagh two days later.The issue of security has become paramount in Northern Ireland again following the dissident republican murders of the two soldiers outside Masserene Army barracks in Antrim on 7 March and the killing of a policeman in County Armagh two days later.
When it launched on Thursday, Google said it has gone to great lengths to ensure privacy, suggesting that the service only showed imagery already visible from public thoroughfares. Neither the MoD nor the Police Service of Northern Ireland said they wished to comment on the Street View service.
It also said it used face recognition technology to blur out faces and licence plates that appear in the images. Google's website said the images on Street View were "no different from what a person can readily see or capture walking down the street. Imagery of this kind is available in a wide variety of formats for cities all around the world".
However, in one photo, viewed by BBC Northern Ireland, the number plate of a car entering a police station is unblurred. "It added: "We are committed to respecting local laws and norms in each country in which we launch Street View.
Neither the MoD nor the Police Service of Northern Ireland said they wished to comment. "Blurring technology and operational controls like image removal are amongst the ways in which we ensure that an individuals' privacy is respected.
"We make it easy for users to ask to have photographs of themselves, their children, their cars or their houses completely removed from the product, even where the images have already been blurred."