RAND Study Says Geospatial Info Little Use to Terrorists
Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, the government took off line all kinds of geospatial information that had previously been available to environmental reporters -- everything from the latitude and longitude of dams and maps of pipeline routes to reports about how many people might be injured by accidents at hazardous chemical plants. The justification for blacking out such information was that it could be useful to terrorists. In the 2-1/2 years since, the government has done little to reduce hazards to the public from such facilities, but the information often remains unavailable.
A new study published by the RAND Corp. -- a name once synonymous with the defense establishment -- has found that the geospatial information available to the public on federal Web sites is "of little unique use to terrorists." The study suggested that potential terrorists would do better to visit the local convenience story and buy a street map... or read the journal of a trade association.
-- "Mapping the Risks: Assessing the Homeland Security Implications of Publicly Available Geospatial Information;" Rand Corp.; March 2004; by John C. Baker, Beth E. Lachman, et al.; full text online. RAND Release (March 25, 2004).
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