The terrorist attacks in Mumbai last year brought any number of technologies “under the microscope”: Twitter can be used by terrorists to coordinate attacks; Google Earth can be used to map out possible attack routes, etc. Too bad Google completely disagrees with this slipshod logic.
That terrorists can use maps, electronic or otherwise, for Evil isn’t Google’s fault, as it explained to The Sydney Morning Herald. Or, specifically:
The evilness is in the philosophies and the desires of those that want to do evil. They will use the tools at hand to do that, whether it’s throwing a Molotov cocktail, or shooting a rifle or using some piece of technology as part of the process.
Yes, it’s like that old Chris Rock joke. Guns don’t kill people, crazy people do.
Post-Mumbai, Google Earth has been called “the Google threat.” Even the venerable British Army has expressed concern about the program!
But I don’t understand how it can. Are we to ban cellphones because, you know, Bad Guy 1 can SMS his location to Bad Guy 2? Or maybe we should shut down Casio for creating the alarm clock that awoke Bad Guy 3 on the day of an attack? It’s silly.