Could Google’s mapping tool be used by the Russians to coordinate aerial attacks in Ukraine? This is feared by some Google Maps users, who since Tuesday have accused the Mountain View giant of hosting information that could potentially be used by the Russians to target airstrikes on several cities including Kyiv or Kharkiv.
Google, which has received numerous reports, takes this very seriously and has decided to play it safe by removing any new information recently added to the map that has been reported to it as suspicious by users. On Twitter, a user told Buzzfeed that some of this information published on February 28 on Google Maps of Ukraine corresponded to the places that Russia had targeted in its airstrikes.
Several dozen users have also shared screenshots on the social network where we can see several places in Kyiv with a similar tag “ФЕРМЕРСЬКЕ ГОСПОДАРСТВО” or “СІЛЬСКЕ ГОСПОДАРСТВО” agriculture” in French.
Faced with the influx of reports received, Google conducted an investigation to finally discover that these changes were made more than a year ago. Nevertheless, faced with the current situation, the Mountain View firm does not want to take any risks. It removed all changes made to the Ukrainian map since February 24 and temporarily blocked all attempts to make changes in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Google and Apple have had to disable several features on their online mapping services. Very easily accessible, these can indeed be very useful for obtaining strategic information. By coupling satellite images and information recorded by Google Maps, a researcher was able to follow the Russian invasion a few hours before Russia officially launched its “military operation”.
Source: Buzzfeed News