Russian Users Suspect Google of Spying

I know these days any more or less tech-savvy internet user will have at least a slight suspicion that Google probably knows a little too much about them. And it is not surprising given our reliance on various Google services and tools. Last time my husband’s computer crashed (when he upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 on his new computer using Lenovo upgrade program) leaving him with an ideally impersonal hard drive without a single document or photo, he was not the least worried about that – and it’s not surprising: all his emails are in Gmail and documents in Google Docs so why worry?

And since I am more paranoid than most people I know about Google, I’m inclined to be worried about how much Google actually knows about me – and how the company might want to use the knowledge one day. But conspiracy theory or not, it is a very different thing when users begin to suspect that Google is actually spying – in the manner that is normally reserved to CIA and the likes. And spying against the country that is still considered by many as a potential enemy to the US, especially since it’s obvious that Google has all the reasons to support the US in whatever problems the country might be facing internationally.

Today I’ve read a post in the most popular Russian technology community where the author claims that Google Maps service seems to demonstrate some voyeuristic thrill towards strategic and military objects in Russia – the borders and nuclear warhead storages. And the author actually shares quite a number of screenshots where such strategic objects are shot with high resolution – and very recently updated. At the same time similar objects in the US are either totally hidden or have not been updated for years.

The author quotes (and demonstrates) quite a number of cases where such strategic objects are displayed in detail. And the most curious thing is that nearby towns and villages don’t seem to be of equal interest to the satellites making the shots – instead they seem to target such strategic objects specifically without paying attention to whatever it is nearby.

It is quite a well-known fact that Google does not actually deal with aerial photography – instead they buy the photos for their service from third parties. And such third parties could obviously have more interest in Russian borders and missiles than in tiny villages in Siberia – so Google is not to blame for actual spying, only for the choice of materials to present to the general public.

But of course while as a Russian citizen I don’t feel comfortable knowing that anyone has access to information about Russian military system – be it foreign secret services or terrorists – I definitely understand that it’s not only Google or their providers to blame here. Instead we should understand that Russian authorities can and should react properly – like contact Google with a request to hide these specific areas from public view which Google actually does for others upon request. And without such proper use of information technology I don’t think they could still claim we are secure in this country.