Google Street View Criticised Because Of SAS Photos

Google has been lambasted for allowing its Street View service to publish pictures of the secretive SAS (Special Air Service) headquarters in Credenhill in Herefordshire which had never been photographed officially before.

Security experts say that terrorists could potentially use the pictures to plan for attacks on the base especially as Street View shows a full 180-degree panoramic view of the HQ's boundary and has been taken within the last six months.

The search giant has promised that Street View will not show licence plates and faces. An MoD spokesperson told the Sun that they never confirm where their special forces are based.

Laura Scott from Google has confirmed that Google only takes pictures from public roads and that the base was not hidden away from public view. She also confirmed that the images would not be taken off the site.

Google said previously that "One in five people already use Google Street View for house hunting and the scheme has previously launched in 20 countries without any breach of security issues".

Ironically, anyone can ask Google to remove pictures if it violates their personal privacy. Furthermore, it did remove some pictures of 10, Downing Street, the home address of the British Prime minister that it considered to be too sensitive.