• stoy@lemmy.zip
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    3 days ago

    This is something I have thought about.

    Google Maps and Street View is an immense strategic resource for the US.

    To not only have the maps and satellite photos, but actually have geotagged street photographs of basically every nation’s road network is insanely useful in a military conflict.

    Imagine planning a spec-ops mission, having access to photos showing the entire attack/escape route where you can draw planned supply drops on actual photos of the exact location while also having photos of the entire route.

    This is hugely strategic

    • Routhinator@startrek.website
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      2 days ago

      And combine that with all the private user data they have from the corp social medias and they have the very Big Brother no one wanted a government to ever have.

    • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      “Maps are a strategic asset” isn’t exactly a new concept in warfare…

      Google maps is public info too (as are it’s many alternatives) - and there’s no country that’s nearly as comprehensively documented at street level than the US. Google maps is also super outdated outside the biggest cities, and the US can get much better quality intelligence via the NRO and just sending some guy in with a phone camera to take selfies the day before.