Tech & Biz

Google maps "airbrushes history" of Hurricane Katrina

by Kaitlin | April 3, 2007 at 03:43 pm

1354 views | 10 Recommendations | 3 comments

People using Google Maps' satellite imagery as an accurate window into their world now have good reason to doubt what they're seeing--recently it was revealed that the imagery of New Orleans currently reflects the pre-Katrina days as opposed to the current state of the city.

This has raised questions not only about accuracy but about hierarchy: who does Google get their orders from? Who replaced the images with older ones? Google reps say it has to do with clarity of image, but there has to be at least one clear image of the devestated area in almost two years of satellite photography, no? Could someone higher up be giving Google a push to show New Orleans in better shape than it really is? And if so, why is Google listening?

It was not clear when the current images replaced views of the city taken after Katrina struck Aug. 29, 2005, flooding an estimated 80 percent of New Orleans.

Miller asked Google to brief his staff by April 6 on who made the decision to replace the imagery with pre-Katrina images, and to disclose if Google was contacted by the city, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey or any other government entity about changing the imagery.

"To use older, pre-Katrina imagery when more recent images are available without some explanation as to why appears to be fundamentally dishonest," Miller said.

Edith Holleman, staff counsel for the House subcommittee, said it would be useful to understand how Google acquires and manages its imagery because "people see Google and other Internet engines and it's almost like the official word."

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Jordan Yerman

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:52 on April 3rd, 2007

At NowPublic, this is high praise from NowPublic editors! Your story is now on the home page for awhile, and everywhere else the “good stuff” box shows up. Many thanks for your great work.

johnnyyuma

at 12:55 on April 8th, 2007

I can't really speak about the map view in NO, but the pictures of my neighborhood of San Jose,Ca are from 2004. So maybe the NO ones are just older too.