Google Street View in Corsham

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to make a request under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 regarding information that the Ministry of
Defence may hold relating to Google Street View in Corsham,
Wiltshire.

I note that several images of Peel Circus in Corsham that were only
recently available using the Google Street View service are now no
longer available. I understand that this road serves a Ministry of
Defence installation.

In March 2010 it was widely reported that the Google Street View
service was criticised by some for showing images of MoD
installations on the basis that it may assist terrorists in
planning attacks.

I note that as part of the reporting of that story, see [1], an MoD
spokesman was quoted as saying, "The MOD cannot prevent satellites
taking imagery of its establishments however we ensure that steps
are taken to protect highly sensitive equipment. It would be
impractical to ask Google to withdraw images as they can be easily
obtained from other sources over which we have no influence."

In that context, there is a legitimate public interest in knowing
whether despite the statement from the MoD, the organisation does
in fact ask that Google do remove images from their website. Whilst
I am aware that Google will remove images for a number of reasons,
it seems reasonable to suspect that it may not be simply be a
coincidence that the removed images showed the part of Peel Circus
nearest to the MoD installation.

I would therefore ask that the Ministry of Defence, under the terms
of the Freedom of Information Act, confirms whether it had any
involvement with Google's decision to remove images of Peel Circus
in Corsham. Please provide copies of any records or correspondence
with Google or other organisations that relate to Google Street
View in Corsham.

My preferred format to receive this information is by electronic
means.

I understand that under Section 16 of the Act public authorities
have a duty to provide advice and assistance to requesters and so
if it is necessary to clarify any details of my request or you find
this request to be unmanageable please contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Adam Brookes

[1] Google Street View criticised for 'showing images of secret SAS
headquarters',
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/go...

Dear Sir/Madam,

According to Section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
public authorities must comply with requests promptly and in any
event not later than the twentieth working day following the date
of receipt.

My Freedom of Information request relating to Google Street View in
Corsham was made on 20 July 2010 and as I have yet to receive a
response the Ministry of Defence is failing to meet its obligations
under the Act.

I would therefore ask for an update of the current status of my
request.

Yours faithfully,

Adam Brookes

Dear Sir/Madam,

As I noted in my email on 31 August, according to Section 10 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, public authorities must comply
with requests promptly and in any event not later than the
twentieth working day following the date of receipt.

My Freedom of Information request relating to Google Street View in
Corsham was made on 20 July 2010 and as I have still yet to receive
a response the Ministry of Defence is continuing to fail to meet
its obligations under the Act.

I would therefore ask that my request is dealt with promptly and
the Ministry of Defence reviews its handling of this request. If no
response is received in the next week I will bring this matter to
the attention of the information commissioner.

Yours faithfully,

Adam Brookes