Apple Maps Accidentally Reveals Secret Military Base In Taiwan

redletterdave writes "After one Taiwanese newspaper snapped and printed a satellite photo of a top-secret military base from the new Maps application running on an iPhone 5, the defense ministry of Taiwan on Tuesday publicly requested Apple blur the sensitive images of the country's classified military installations. The top-secret radar base, located in the northern county of Hsinchu, contains a highly-advanced ultra-high-frequency long-range radar that military officials say can detect missiles launched as far away as the city of Xinjiang, which is located in northwest China. The radar system was obtained via U.S.-based defense group Raytheon in 2003, and is still being constructed with hopes to be completed by the end of this year. 'Regarding images taken by commercial satellites, legally we can do nothing about it,' said David Lo, the spokesman of Taiwan's defense ministry, in a statement to reporters. 'But we'll ask Apple to lower the resolution of satellite images of some confidential military establishments the way we've asked Google in the past.'"

Comments

Probably weren't even looking for it.

[AuralityKev]

They found it when they were actually searching for the nearest Burger King in Gary, Indiana.

Re:Probably weren't even looking for it.

[Guignol]

The big deal, is, we must have managed to get past c, somehow, and are now stuck in the bizarro universe

Message from the ministry of defense to Apple and everyone else:

"We are sorry to ask you Apple so bluntly to follow our strict privacy rules, but this as a matter of the highest importance for our country and therefore we demand:
That the pictures taken from our Ultra Top Secret Defense facility be blurred immediately

The top-secret radar base, located [Full address with detailed instructions about how to get there quickly + nice hotels and restaurants nearby] , contains a highly-advanced ultra-high-frequency long-range radar that can detect missiles launched as far away as the city of Xinjiang.
The radar system was obtained via U.S.-based defense group Raytheon in 2003 for $1.23 billions, you will see in attachment a copy of the receipt and the names, addresses and phone numbers of the diplomats and businessmen involved in the super secret project so that you can confirm those figures, should you need to
This Top secret facility is operated by over 250 trained soldiers and scientists. There are 25 dogs protecting the north and west areas, 35 people shift turns every 3 hours to protect the rest of it, except at lunch since they all lunch together

Again, blur the pictures immediately as they are a threat to our top secret facility "

Xinjiang

[trainman]

Slight correction, Xinjiang is a province not a city. And a very lovely part of the country to visit.

Uh, maybe...

[SomePgmr]

The images of a base showed up, so they gave everyone the specs and capabilities of the radar system in their request to hide the base again? That doesn't seem very clever.

"Dear Google, we see you're showing images of Area 51. This is the base where we hide all the alien corpses and spacecraft we've collected over the years, so we'd really appreciate it if you blur the aerial photography. Thanks!"

Re:Uh, maybe...

[drinkypoo]

The images of a base showed up, so they gave everyone the specs and capabilities of the radar system in their request to hide the base again? That doesn't seem very clever.

You know, there may be at least a very small chance that they were not entirely forthcoming when they disclosed the capabilities and purpose of the facility in question...

Silly Taiwanese people. You DON'T request Apple.

[Anonymous Coward]

Silly Taiwanese people. You don't request Apple for anything. You beg. You pray. You hope. But you DON'T speak to The Apple unless spoken to by The Apple. Commoners!

Good for something...

[chinton]

At least Apple Maps revealed something that was actually there.

Streisand Effect

[Roogna]

Is it me, or is blurring/removing something from these maps the absolute ideal way to tell the entire world: "There's something really important to someone here."

I can see the conversation now. "How do I get to the Secret Base?" -- "Take a left and follow the road until it disappears on your map, then you're there."

Apple Maps?

[PPH]

No problem. The correct location of the base will never be found.

Re:what a reasonable way to solve a problem

[Savage-Rabbit]

But sir, do we surrender before or after we file the missiles?

That is a tired such a tired joke.

Of 125 major European wars since 1495, the French have fought in 50, more than Austria (47) and England (43).
Out of a total 168 battles since 387BC, they won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10.
  -- Stephen Fry, QI season 6 episode 5.

Not bad for a bunch of surrender monkeys. Disclaimer: I'm a German and we were, after all, responsible for that oft mentioned surrender but we also admire courage and tenacity even in our (thankfully former) enemies. If you occupants of the Anglo Saxon cultural bubble want to call anybody a bunch of 'Surrender Mokeys' it's us Germans. We did after all surrender twice in the last century, the French only once.