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Centuries ago you could get executed for possessing the wrong map. Maps were considered military intelligence assets, a threat to national security in the wrong

Centuries ago you could get executed for possessing the wrong map. Maps were considered military intelligence assets, a threat to national security in the wrong hands. Kipling's novel Kim is based on the true history of how the British incrementally mapped the territory of India and neighboring regions.

est31 7y ago
Maps, and geodesy in general is still very important to militaries today. You want a fighter jet to be able to locate the carrier it started from. You want to know where the enemies are hiding and where their bunkers are so that you can shoot at them with your artillery. You want to know which bridges can endure the weight of tanks and which can't. It's no coincidence that the US military invented GPS and keeps it under its operational control.
- beerandt 7y ago
  And that in some countries, it's still a treason level offense to possess a GPS receiver. Some others have relaxed that stance, but only very recently. Even with cell phones and the general culture changing in many of those places, the tolerance is an unofficial courtesy; the laws haven't changed and are still used against tourists when authorities get suspicious or just need an excuse for harassment.
chrisseaton 7y ago
> Maps were considered military intelligence assets, a threat to national security in the wrong hands. Do you think that's not the case today?!
- pathseeker 7y ago
  Well ones that just contain basic elevations, etc are all very available to the public now so that's no longer the case. It's true that placing critical resource locations on the map makes that the case, but that's not what OP is referring to.
- beerandt 7y ago
  Maybe for high resolution geoid / gravimetric data. But even it's starting to get publicly published. (Coincidentally starting around the time we began rolling out missile defense.)
Someone 7y ago
I fear you can still get close to being executed for possessing the wrong map, for example in Israel/Palestine, Kashmir (disputed between India/Pakistan), or China/Taiwan (stating that Taipei is the capital of Taiwan can even get you in trouble _in_Taiwan. See https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/08/10/bbc-calls-taipei-taiwans-capital/ https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/08/10/bbc-calls-taipei-taiwa...)
- bane 7y ago
  It's also interesting to note that many on-line maps of China (google maps for example) are shifted off of their actual locations by a few hundred meters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_data_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_dat...

est31 7y ago

Maps, and geodesy in general is still very important to militaries today. You want a fighter jet to be able to locate the carrier it started from. You want to know where the enemies are hiding and where their bunkers are so that you can shoot at them with your artillery. You want to know which bridges can endure the weight of tanks and which can't. It's no coincidence that the US military invented GPS and keeps it under its operational control.

beerandt 7y ago
And that in some countries, it's still a treason level offense to possess a GPS receiver. Some others have relaxed that stance, but only very recently. Even with cell phones and the general culture changing in many of those places, the tolerance is an unofficial courtesy; the laws haven't changed and are still used against tourists when authorities get suspicious or just need an excuse for harassment.

chrisseaton 7y ago

> Maps were considered military intelligence assets, a threat to national security in the wrong hands. Do you think that's not the case today?!

pathseeker 7y ago
Well ones that just contain basic elevations, etc are all very available to the public now so that's no longer the case. It's true that placing critical resource locations on the map makes that the case, but that's not what OP is referring to.
beerandt 7y ago
Maybe for high resolution geoid / gravimetric data. But even it's starting to get publicly published. (Coincidentally starting around the time we began rolling out missile defense.)

Someone 7y ago

I fear you can still get close to being executed for possessing the wrong map, for example in Israel/Palestine, Kashmir (disputed between India/Pakistan), or China/Taiwan (stating that Taipei is the capital of Taiwan can even get you in trouble _in_Taiwan. See https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/08/10/bbc-calls-taipei-taiwans-capital/ https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/08/10/bbc-calls-taipei-taiwa...)

bane 7y ago
It's also interesting to note that many on-line maps of China (google maps for example) are shifted off of their actual locations by a few hundred meters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_data_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_dat...