Google Earth tries to hide (via blurring) places that are considered state secrets by the relevant authorities of that country. Sometimes conspicuous blurs trigger investigations that might not please some governments.
Since Monday, the Netherlands have been included in the Google Earth’s detailed satellite photo maps. Dutch shock-blog GeenStijl has discovered that some very obvious places, such as military airports, are made unrecognizable.
More intriguingly, some surprising locations are blurred on Google Earth. For instance, check out this map of Coevorden. “No clue what is there,” writes GeenStijl, “But it is not your business to find out what is going on there. Stay away. You are not meant to know.”
GeenStijl asked its readers to check Google Earth for blurred places in their neighborhood. State security might become very busy when citizens start visiting blurred places.
