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Indian GPS Cartographers Charged As Terrorists
chrb writes "Following on from the discussion about Apple disabling GPS in Egyptian iPhones, we have a new case of the conflict between the traditional secrecy of government, and the widening availability of cheap, accurate GPS devices around the world. On 5th December, two software engineers employed by Biond Software in India were arrested for mapping highways using vehicle based GPS devices. Further evidence against the pair emerged when it was found that a laptop they had been using in the car contained some photos of the local airforce base. The company claims they had been commissioned by Nokia Navigator to create maps of local roads and terrain. Following an investigation by the Anti Terrorist Squad of Gujarat the cartographers have now been charged with violating the Official
Secrets Act and will remain in custody."
The convoy was supposed to detour around the town and instead turned directly into it, eventually running into an ambush. The ambush was unlikely to have been set up in advance, because the Iraqis did not know which course the convoy would take. The navigational error has never been properly explained, because the soldiers had GPS receivers and maps
My buddy revealed that it was common knowledge in the sandbox that the Officer in charge of the convoy, Capt. Troy Kent King, was the one who was responsible for making the wrong turns. According to google searches, the report is classified Secret and so the official cause is still "unknown".
So that's what happens when LT's with a map and compass go on to become captains.
"You are in violation of the Official Secrets Act, you are under arrest."
Correction: That's the Official Secrets Act of 1923.
From TFA, here's what got led to the charges:
Presumably, everything they recorded was viewable from public roadways since neither linked articles mentioned anything about criminal trespassing. I wonder how many of India's citizenry or tourists know about the ban on photographing those areas? Were there any signs posted? Anyway the whole mess sounds like an overreaction due to the Mumbai shootings.
Of course, you can be detained for doing that in the US too. Not sure what exactly they charge you with.
Really? I wonder what happened to the Google employees who took these photos?
My blog
Still better than Britain where you can get arrested or harressed for taking photographs anywhere the police do not like it..
Actually, no, you can legally photograph nearly everything you can see from public land in the US. There are a few places where they're known to lack a sense of humor about it, but almost everything is fair game. (That said, there are a few rare restrictions on such things.)
Now understanding that this is the law in your country, and it is (apparently) clearly posted, well... yeah, they broke the law and got caught. As usual, /. distorts the story.
As to US laws, here's what 18 USC 795 has to say (in part).
"Whenever, in the interests of national defense, the President defines certain vital military and naval installations or equipment as requiring protection against the general dissemination of information relative thereto, it shall be unlawful to make any photograph, sketch, picture, drawing, map, or graphical representation of such vital military and naval installations or equipment without first obtaining permission of the commanding officer of the military or naval post, camp, or station, or naval vessels, military and naval aircraft, and any separate military or naval command concerned, or higher authority, and promptly submitting the product obtained to such commanding officer or higher authority for censorship or such other action as he may deem necessary."
Executive Order 10104, 1 Feb 1950:
"... it shall be unlawful to make any photograph, sketch, picture, drawing, map, or graphical representation of such vital military and naval installations or equipment..."
Atomic Energy Commission, US Code, Title 42, Cap 23, Div A, Subchap XVII, Sec 2278b:
"It shall be an offense...to make any photograph, sketch, picture, drawing, map or graphical representation, while present on property subject to the jurisdiction, administration or in the custody of the Commission."
The laws w.r.t. photography/videography/general data-gathering concerning anything that could be construed as sensitive are very broad, and enforcement and interpretation varies enormously. Making assumptions here can get one in deep trouble very quickly with many large, angry, heavily-armed men, one of which might be thinking to himself; "I wonder if I could just shoot this idiot? If my buddy Smitty is Officer Of The Day today, he'd probably cover me in the report.".
Cheers!
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
For some reason this reminds me of telemarketers' Do Not Call list.
Or the "opt out" link on spam, whereby one can click to say, "Yes, I'm here and I read my spam, so please stop sending it."
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Old military lore.
Fresh officers (boots, butterbars, third-butter-cutter, all sorts of names for them) out of officer school are all hot to show their Stuff. Typically, within weeks of commissioning they were given a platoon of men to lead. As the head cheese, it is their responsibility to get the platoon where it needs to go.
These guys are around 22 years old. In this platoon, you are sure to have one old salt, and a couple on their way. The unwritten rule is to make sure the butterbar has adult supervision in the form of a senior non-com. This senior non-com goes out of his way _not_ to make decisions. So, you will hear plenty of stories about how a platoon gets hopelessly lost while the non-coms who could have 'prevented' the tragedy do nothing. The officers learn from their mistakes with the benefit of senior non-coms as training wheels.
In modern times, the officers go through some OJT as an exec. or something in addition to the more extensive field training currently in the system.
Not so rare any more. Pretty much all the tunnels & bridges in NYC are "no photo" zones. Take a look at this entertaining gallery for examples.
All part of the War on Photographers.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
The husband likes taking pictures of industrial structures as reference for his model railroad. His job was taking him all over the country at this point.
He was on a road when he saw an interesting building he decided to photograph. So he did. Very soon after that a rent-a-cop came puffing up the hill and told him he couldn't do that.
Next he was demanding that my husband give him the camera. Uh, no. Then he demanded that all the photos (including all the other ones that had nothing to do with this situation) be deleted. Uh, no. Eventually my husband got bored with the whole thing and just walked away. There was nothing the guy could really do as this was all taking place on a public highway and a building in plain view.
Here in the US, he could get away with it. I don't know about other places. But just because 'someone' says you can't do it doesn't mean they're right. And sadly most people will cave when someone perceived to be an authority figure demands something.
The Blue Force Tracker system is an OK navigation system. The daggers, military hand held GPS sytems, are total and complete shit. Your lucky if you can find your own ass with one of those things.
When I first got into Iraq, we where told we didn't need strip maps because our convoy commander had a GPS and and "had driven the route dozens of times." We took several wrong turns in Baghdad and were lost for over an hour. We ran into a EOD cordon around an IED, and they pointed us in the right direction. On the up side, we missed 2 IED's along our planned route.
Actually, no, you can legally photograph nearly everything you can see from public land in the US. There are a few places where they're known to lack a sense of humor about it, but almost everything is fair game. (That said, there are a few rare restrictions on such things.)
Now understanding that this is the law in your country, and it is (apparently) clearly posted, well... yeah, they broke the law and got caught. As usual, /. distorts the story.
Actually, no, you cannot take pictures of many US Military installations. I was one of the guys who would apprehend you and take your camera from you. Please don't speak for America if you don't know enough to tell the truth.