|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Figure 1A. Keeping it real...golf course and trees in The Netherlands as seen in Live.com map. No evidence of Photoshop is apparent.
|
Figure 1B. Faking it...cloned trees are poorly rendered ---but foreshadow dangers of well done Photoshop in Google Maps.
|
Imagine going to Google Maps and not being sure if the map you see with its realistic trees is real or photoshopped?
PhotoshopDisasters posted a tip from MK about a Google Map that turned out to be photoshopped. A stand of trees next to a golf course in The Netherlands was faked.
The question for bloggers on such sites as BoingBoing, was why?
Maps in Google Earth are comprised of aerial and satellite photos. Unlike a missile silo or strategic infrastructure which have obvious security concerns, why bother to photoshop an image of golf course in The Netherlands?
Google representative, Kate Hurowitz, in Global Communications & Public Affairs, told StinkyJournalism that they are concerned and investigating The Netherland’s photoshopped trees image. She said, “We're aware that there seems to be an anomaly in our imagery and are working to determine what happened.” She promised to let us know when they have “more information.”
|
|
|
Figure 2. Photoshop "cloning" is evidenced . See repeated pattern of the same white flowering tree detail occurring over same stand of trees.
|
Google Maps Alterations are Usually Obvious
|
|
|
Figure 3. Pixilated area in Google Map, also in The Netherlands. No missile silo or military base, blogger "el rolio" said. It's an average looking neighborhood that is obscured.
|
|
|
|
Figure 4.Blurred area in a Google Map results from a "old train trestle where the local utility company has a propane injection and major electrical junction" according to blogger "zleuth."
|
Think about it. Google Earth should be concerned. The prospect of well done, difficult-to-detect photoshopped photos taking over Google Maps – as opposed to the amateurish tree cloning exhibited in the golf course – is a real potential threat.
Censorship for security, so far, has been relatively innocent as alterations are immediately recognizable when only blurring and pixilation are the standard features employed. See examples here of both.
Blogger “zleuth” posted an example in Hardforum of blurring of a sensitive area. He writes, “In this case, the area is under an old train trestle where the local utility company has a propane injection and major electrical junction. As you can see, the details have been blurred, not photoshopped to conceal it.” Figure 4.
However, high quality photoshop work is an entirely different matter. Imagine a visit to Google Earth or other map sites, if one faced a conflation of fake and actual locations that only hours of analysis – on each screen shot – could parse.
“Who would do it and why?” asked, Dr. Farouk El-Baz, Research Professor and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University who is a world authority on satellite images.
Google Earth is now in contact with this licensor of the photoshopped tree photo as part of their investigation to ask just that. Why would this particular, seemingly innocent location warrant an undisclosed and poorly rendered photoshop cloning job?
Dr El-Baz continued “It’s weird and something totally useless and ineffective. It has no effect on the picture to realize and it’s not changing a thing , the doctoring.”
|
Important Disclosures from Google Earth
- Content Provided by Third Parties
“The Google Maps service includes search results such as…images, and related information provided by third parties…Google makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by these third parties.”
- Map Information *
“Information provided through Google is intended for planning purposes only. You may find that weather, construction projects, traffic conditions or other events may cause road conditions to differ from the map results.”
*Note the Map disclosures do not list "photoshop alterations" as one of the causes of differences among Google maps. (from StinkyJournalism editor)
- Who are the “third parties?
“Geocoding data for map content in Google Maps is provided under license by Navteq North America LLC ("NAVTEQ") and/or Tele Atlas North America, Inc. ("TANA") and/or other third parties.”
|
Google Earth licenses all its images
|
|
Figure 5. Blogger "Hendrik" offered another example of the use of pixilation in same area of the photoshopped tree map in The Netherlands.
|
Ms. Hurowitz said, “You may or may not be aware at Google Earth – we license imagery data from various data providers that we publish.” She explained that “we publish imagery in the form that it’s given to us.”
She said they will do "some sort of basic color correction, and that sort of thing... If you see blurring or pixilation in an image in Google Earth, that was done by the data provider. So, for instance... a couple of instances in The Netherlands where you'll see that sort of pixilation, that's done, actually, in accordance with local law by the data provider."
"But what would be the local law applying to a golf course?" I asked. "Or is there something else there that we're not seeing?"
Ms. Hurowitz answered, “You will see blurred and pixilated imagery in Google Earth, but that is imagery that’s been provided to us.… It was done at the request of – for instance, it may have been done at the request of the government to the provider.”
|
How do you find “third party providers” responsible for photoshopped Google Map?
Google representative, Kate Hurowitz, in Global Communications & Public Affairs stated:
“The way that you can find out about the data provider is you’ll notice that in Google Earth, when you zoom in, you’ll see that for any given earth frame of imagery you’ll see a copyright attribution at the bottom of the page.”
|
Blogger “el rolio,” who lives in The Netherlands, wrote in Hardforum that his average-looking street has been pixilated. “It isn’t the first time that a Google Map has something funny going on in The Netherlands” he wrote. “The top of my street (Ramstraat) – it’s been like this [pixilated] for the whole year I've lived here.” See Figure 3.
Blogger “Hendrik” offered another example of the use of pixilation in same area of the photoshopped tree map in The Netherlands.
Blurred Google Maps--The Netherlands has 5 out of 51 locations cited
A blogger on Photoshopdisasters cited an article – “Blurred Out: 51 Things You Aren't Allowed to See on Google Maps” – which cited 5 locations in The Netherlands, including 2 military bases, that are obscured by digital means. Read between the lines and it's apparent that people in power lean on Google providers who pass doctored images on to Google Earth, which then decides what gets published.
The IT Security Editors wrote, “For all of the places that Google Maps allows you to see, there are plenty of places that are off-limits. Whether it’s due to government restrictions, personal-privacy lawsuits or mistakes, Google Maps has slapped a ‘Prohibited’ sign on the following 51 places.”
I asked the Google rep, “When you see pixilation, do you ask for better images or do you ask for an explanation?
She said, “We make a decision based on a variety of factors, and we may – if we do receive blurred imagery – we may still decide to post that imagery if we think that it’s generally of higher quality than what we previously had in the product. So, if it’s newer, or has higher resolution, or better clarity overall, basically, we’re just always working to get the best imagery that we can possibly get … and we make decisions based on that.”
|
Find the 5 sensitive locations that are off-limits in The Netherlands…as well as the 46 other locations.
See “Blurred Out: 51 Things You Aren't Allowed to See on Google Maps”
4. Soesterberg Air Base, in the Netherlands: This Dutch air-force base and former F-15 base for the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War can't be seen via Google Maps.
7. Leeuwarden, Netherlands: This Dutch city is one of the main operating bases of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, part of NATO's Joint Command Centre and one of three Joint Sub-Regional Commands of Allied Forces Northern Europe. Leeuwarden is also one of two regional headquarters of Allied Command Europe, headed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
15. The Royal Stables in The Hague, Netherlands: A division of the Civil Household, the Royal Stables arranges transport for the members of the Royal House and the Royal Household.
16. Huis Ten Bosch Palace: This address is one of the four official residences of the Dutch Royal Family, also located in The Hague, Netherlands. Queen Beatrix has lived here since 1981.
28. The city of Utrecht in the Netherlands : Some sites say that the ban on this Dutch city was an apparent mistake, but it does hold relevance as an ancient city and has served as the religious center of the Netherlands since the eighth century.
|
Photoshopped images on Google? Remote sensing expert said “Good to know.”
Our remote sensing expert, Dr El-Baz said, “It’s probably good to know that this is being done. If you see something that is a bit out of the ordinary it might be a doctoring thing. Yes, it’s good to know. Absolutely. That this [photoshop] is possible, so people can be beware.”
“Had you heard anything about these Google Maps being photoshopped?” I asked.
“I have not heard about this in any way, shape or form. Google Earth is not doing this for sure. Whatever they get, they put on what they get,” he confirmed.
“The cloned trees image looks like an aerial photo” I said.
Dr El-Baz answered, “This looks like an aerial one, yes. Satellite would be more difficult to doctor because it takes more mathematics. Somebody would really know how to handle software. Then this one would be easier to do it in an aircraft photograph. Why would anyone do this?"
So what about the Google Map with the mysterious cloned trees? We are still waiting for Google to answer.
|
