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In the USA, sensitive sites are not hidden by blur, but instead by fake scenery generation.

Nearby where I live, there is an oil pipeline pump/monitor station. Shows up on Google maps as dilapidated concrete pad, decades old. Its really a modern pump/lift station, with a razor fence around it.

Google maps indicates the tile data is from 2025. The station has been there for 10+ years.

Even weirder, is that Bing maps shows the pump station proper.

This isn't really the best reporting on the situation.

Here's the deal:

Google Maps currently doesn't work well in South Korea. That's because the SK government has refused to give Google access to their official map data, because of "security concerns". They apparently had no problem giving map data to local SK companies, however, so essentially those companies had an unfair advantage.

While negotiating tariffs, it seems like Google was able to slip into the talks and cut a deal with the SK government to get the data. I guess a minor detail of the deal is that certain things will be blurred? I assume military bases?

It's the same with military sites in France, where satellite images are blurred but you still get street view, and if that doesn't exist, you can still look at ground level photos, like so https://maps.app.goo.gl/Kr2822pASFRPLJHR7

Compliance is fun.

Do I understand correctly that this just means that military zones will be blurred?

Then how does this sentence make sense?

> Google said on Tuesday that it would comply with the South Korean government's demand to blur sensitive satellite images on its mapping services, paving the way for the US tech giant to compete better with local navigation platforms.

Anyone in South Korea will continue to use Naver Maps or Kakao Maps.

Alternative link to the identical (AFP) article, if anyone has technical issues with the barrons.com (progressive-loading) site:

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/google-to-obey-s...

This is probably because in the absence of a space program, North Korea uses Google maps for surveilling it's rivals.

(I kid, I kid. I am sure they have access to Chinese spy satellite data)

Wasn't that always the case? I was in Seoul in 2016 and Google Maps wasn't even allowed to be vectorial there.

Years ago I requested Google blur my house on Street View - it still is. Granted, every other mapping service has satellite photos of my house but I'm just surprised they still honor it.

It's not like NK can't get uncensored imagery from Russia or China, or commercial access.

I just did a spot check, since I live very near an airport. The airport is blurred / obscured on Naver and Kakao Maps. Google maps and Google Earth still show the actual imagery. I guess Google's blurring hasn't begun yet.

This can be seen in action here in Europe. Near Antwerp, in Kruibeke, we stumbled upon a military base when deviating from the A14 to fill the tank. The whole area is blurred in google maps.

List of satellite map images with missing or unclear data

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_satellite_map_images_w...

Here's a good read on OpenStreetMap in Korea (use Google Translate) https://medium.com/seoul-libre-maps/%EB%94%94%EC%A7%80%ED%84...

Apparently Pokemon Go was a major driver for OSM editors in Korea--Niantic used OSM and PokeStops wouldn't spawn due low quality OSM data.

Yeah it's weird. A lot of countries try to interfere with global mapping anyway. Like China which has its entire country at an offset by using a slighly offset datum standard.

It's called the China GPS Shift. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_dat...

For the longest time there were plenty of locations in the US that were also blurred. The Naval Observatory, Vice President's residence/office in DC, for example.

It's not anymore, though the maps are lower quality over DC now and the USG can just compel Google to edit the tiles to obscure details of sensitive sites.

Pretty good summary of the arguments here: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/05/travel/south-korea-google...

Of course the pearl clutching by Korean mega-corporations that Google would behave monopolistically is pretty hard to take.

Couldn't another company do this that's not as international as Google?

Finally, my time has come! A topic I'm both very passionate about and have a lot of experience with.

> As a result, domestic technology firms like Naver and Kakao have cornered the market for mapping services, making navigation harder for foreign visitors unfamiliar with their platforms.

Oh no! Poor tourists have to download a different map app! Such inconvenience and hardship! It's the opposite. Whenever I go abroad and get to use a local app instead of a FAANG monstrosity, it's usually a delight.

And there is no better example than Maps. Even without knowing a lick of Korean, the discerning HN reader will immediately spot the difference in degree of enshittification with the two local market leaders [1]. Google Maps? Massive space to 3 companies that clearly paid the most for ads. I can't emphasize just how random the companies are, there's no other reason than ads that those are shown. The pictured area is tourist heavy, so plenty of Google Maps users. And dozens and dozens of establishment even just in the screenshot with 100x+ the visitors, including Google Maps searches, than the 3 companies that do get their own name and icon.

Everything else is a grey mess, unusable. Public transit, metro lines? Never heard of them. Different types of streets? Colors that make sense and increase readibility? Nope. Why? Again, go make the ads stand out more.

And unfortunately this is unrelated to Korea - Google Maps is this awful anywhere, as a result of being a monopolistic ads company. Such a prime example of why they need to be broken up.

The local map apps in Korea, Naver Maps and Kakao Maps, are the poster child of just how good it is for a society to protect themselves against the FAANGs. 50 million people get to use a much better navigation app thanks to it. In addition, it creates jobs and keeps all related revenue inside the country. Win-win-win. The only one who loses out is Google, and the few tourists who can't be bothered to install a local app (available in multiple languages, by the way). Even for those, it's not like Google Maps is banned; it's definitely functional. It has the public transit, it has the restaurants and so on.

[1] https://ibb.co/hJkL3xRY