The RCMP searched the Whistler Olympic village with a dog team after a suspicious map of the complex was found. The map contained notations that the authorities said were concerning, although they refused to reveal the nature of the notations. Security is a significant component of the games these days, with Canada reportedly spending $866 million on this line item.

Read more about the incident here.

Fusion Core, the mapping system that combines Microsoft’s SharePoint Server with ESRI’s ArcGIS Server, is at the center of the security system developed for Super Bowl XLIV. The system brings together various data streams into one system and allows users to exchange documents, information and alerts.

The system, called Project Dolphin, enables multi-agency collaboration for situation response.

Read this story in Information Week for more details.

India asserts that they’ve lost land to China in the area around the Line of Actual Control with China due to poor mapping of the area. India reports that Chinese troops have threatened nomadic goat herders in the area and there are reports that the Chinese Army entered 1.5 km into Indian territory and painted boulders with the word “China” in red spray paint.

Read more about this issue via the Times of India.

The new security measures that have been imposed by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) after the failed bombing of the Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight include the disabling of cabin mapping systems for incoming international flights. These systems show how far the plane is from its destination. This closure has also meant the shutting down of entire in-flight entertainment systems by some airlines, because the mapping system has been tied to other programming and couldn’t be separately disabled without considerable system changes.

The moving map played a role in when the terrorist set off his hidden device. The restrictions on location include the curtailing of any announcements from the cockpit about landmarks on the ground. There are also new restriction on the final hour of “sterile time” in flight, including not allowing pillows and blankets in laps and making passengers turn off all electronic devices. The new restrictions are planned for a month, but likely indicate new long-term changes in air travel.

Personal GPS devices are not yet on the TSA’s prohibited personal items list, but it makes no sense to remove the moving map without removing these devices. Currently, the use of GPS devices on airlines has been up to airline discretion. The restrictions on all electronics during certain portions of the flight may be enough to keep GPS restrictions from becoming a blanket restriction.

Knowing precisely where we are feels like an inalienable right these days. New regulations to curtail communications and location feel Draconian in measure, given our reliance on these devices. There has to be a better way to eliminate those intent on causing harm that frees the rest us from the regulations that have made modern travel such an unpleasant experience.

Mapping as espionage is a concept that can’t be escaped even though technological advancements are slowly making this advantage obsolete. We are reminded of this as the Chinese refuse to be measured and monitored for their carbon emissions, showing a reluctance to be mapped based on security concerns. The strategic nature of mapping has become far less critical given the advance of geospatial technologies, yet there are still those left behind in pre-Internet thinking.

The fact is that we can and do measure the Earth from space. We have highly detailed and continuously updated maps of the entire planet in aggregate, and we’re on a path to add more and more sensors. If we continue on the rapidly expanding capacity of earth observation, it won’t be long before we have real-time data for the whole of the globe.

Refusing to be mapped and measured ignores the reality of current and coming earth observation, remote sensing, and mapping technologies. A Cold War mentality of life behind walls doesn’t exist anymore. It’s far more constructive to embrace the reality of transparency, and work to enhance the reliability and impartiality of measurement technology with a broad international science and technology team. A greatly enhanced Global Earth Observation System of Systems that is built on an open platform could greatly accelerate the realization of the Digital Earth vision, and China is at the forefront in advocating that vision.

The idea that it’s bad if you’re mapping me will certainly not go away. Clandestine operations are a political reality. However, coming together on whole earth mapping, modeling and monitoring goes way beyond the security of individual nations toward the security of our planet to sustain humankind.

While whole planet thinking is the aim and intent of Copenhagen, it’s a difficult concept given geopolitical perspectives. An awareness of technological capabilities, and the beneficial outcomes of a whole-Earth system of systems, could go a long way in reinforcing the realization that all countries need to come together for the stewardship of our planet.

An editorial in today’s New York Times shines a light on ongoing privacy suits that seek to determine the legality of whether police can attach GPS devices to vehicles without judicial oversight.

Courts at various levels have ruled differently about the legality, and the Supreme Court has yet to address this issue. The highest courts of three states — New York, Oregon and Washington — ruled that their state constitutions prohibit the police from installing GPS devices without a warrant. But some lower courts, including the Chicago-based Seventh Circuit ruled that a warrant is not required for remote surveillance by a GPS device, although it said that if the police began to use the technique on a large scale it might violate the Fourth Amendment.

While GPS technology has been around for some time, the accuracy and capability have steadily increased. It will be interesting to follow how the Fourth Amendment is protected as the law evolves.

A story today in China View discusses a Chinese government crack down on the sale of a topography map. A ‘classified’ map from the period of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was being sold at a market in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, prompting the crackdown. The ban asks for citizens to report any such ‘classified’ maps that are being traded and outlines punishment for any government department that loses any classified maps or punishment for any website that displays such maps.

The story serves to illustrate the stark difference between China’s policy on mapmaking vs. that of the rest of the world. Most nations have conceded the open nature of mapping, and a large number have encouraged the open mapping of our world. China is still firmly in the camp of protecting map data for security reasons.

There’s a great new website on crime mapping for San Francisco called San Francisco Crimespotting, created by Stamen Design. The site was enabled by the opening of data on the DataSF site, and speaks to the creativity that can be unleashed by providing transparency to government data resources. Brady Forest on O’Reilly Radar did a nice write-up that outlines why this site is the “Future of Mapping“.

The movie District 9, that opened in theaters last week, details a segregated society between humans and aliens. To support the film there’s a web mapping feature that pictures the segregated city, with crime maps for both humans and non-humans. The site makes good use of a map interface, with embedded media pop-ups that include both videos and photos. Initial login is for humans and non-humans, and if you click on the other area a pop-up indicates that you’re not authorized to enter.

The movie looks like an intense science fiction action adventure film. The movie plot is also a thinly veiled exploration of a segregated society, including racism between these species. The movie got some great reviews via Rotten Tomatoes, and I’m off to see it tonight.

The Department of Homeland Security has awarded a five-year, $29 million, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to Battelle and subcontractor Capstone to support operational awareness for critical infrastructure in the U.S. The contract is specifically for the operation and support of the National Infrastructure Coordination Center (NICC) and the Office of Infrastructure Protection Incident Management Cell (IMC) for operational awareness of key infrastructure and resources.

The function of this lab is real-time monitoring and coordinated response to homeland security threats, so there’s decidedly a geospatial component. Battelle is already running the DHS National Biodefense Institute, so this contract just adds to their security responsibilities.