Best-kept secret? Google move shows mapping risks

Parks Australia last month objected to the Google Street View tool that allowed users to virtually walk on Uluru’s summit. — Reuters

BANGKOK: A request by Australian authorities for Google to remove photographs of the top of a sacred indigenous site has sparked a debate on how to better protect such places and whether mapping tools are increasing privacy and conservation risks.

Parks Australia, which is responsible for the national park where Uluru is located, last month objected to the Google Street View tool that allowed users to virtually walk on its summit – which was closed to tourists in 2019 after a decades-long campaign by indigenous communities.