I don't see the issue. Any terrorists using Apple Maps to find the "intelligence services headquarters on Lake Lutvann near Oslo" will end up in the middle of the lake.
Problem solved.
Apple has been denied permission to take aerial photographs of Oslo to create 3D images of the Norwegian capital for its Maps app – even though the US embassy has appealed to the Scandinavian nation's government to reconsider. The fruity firm has been stymied by the Norwegian government, local media is reporting, because of …
""We do not want it to be shooting with such a high degree of precision that can be used to identify areas that need special shielding," acting director Øyvind Mandt of the Norwegian National Security Authority (Nasjonal sikkerhetsmyndighet; NSM) told newspaper Aftenposten (translated by Google Translate)."
... adding "We do not want our cities to start looking like those in the United States nor do we want to adopt a climate of fear..."
The push button pin lock between some secure areas of an airport or into the back office of a post office are security through obscurity and work better than having an open door. Could even a semi-determined no-gooder see the code or get through? Yes, but it's all about risk/reward for that endeavour.
Terrorists, generally aren't mastermind criminals with access to high tech or even aircraft (obvious exceptions) they are quite often radicalised teenagers who have access to the internet and therefore simply fertiliser bomb recipes.
I'm sure no-one wants to give them easy access to see that unguarded air-vent that a carefully thrown grenade could cause damage. Yes it could be stopped by putting massive security shields everywhere but the government obviously don't want to do that.
Even the death star had a critical flaw that a small design change would've stopped but it needed the stealing of the plans for it to find it.
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I don't think you understand what security through obscurity means. Having a lock on a door relies on a shared secret (the key). Security through obscurity would be relying on only authorised people knowing to push the buttons.
Secondly, the Death Star was a fictional and it's flaw was a required plot device.
"Keep your eyes off our prize, Tim Cook"? Oh and no, having lived here since 98 I did not need to use Google translate for that. I realise that I may have completely missed the point of something seriously witty from El Reg's subbies but if I have could someone explain it to me please? Otherwise I will have to assume that Vulture Central is placing too much trust in Mountain View's translations.
Having mangled the Norwegian language(actually, we have two variants of written Norwegian) for a lifetime I can say with a good degree of certainty that a line like that would make any teacher cry...
@Tim, I'd smack you with a cod, if I could...
Your punishment will therefore be to watch this video on replay for 2 Hours:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijk8GQZP1pA
Far too kind old chap. He should be forced to eat rakfisk and lutefisk every day for a month. As to the two written forms of the language I can only say that having seen what he has done with Bokmål I shudder to think what crimes he would commit against Nynorsk.
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I think obscuring the tops of those building is hilarious. You can see the guard shack on top of the White House and the Capitol Building from the street, and if you were really serious you could just zoom in on the footage from the traffic helicopter. Hell, if you're taking a commuter flight to New York or Boston from Reagan National you can just look out the window and see the roofs of those buildings.
"asking her to reconsider her decision to block the aerial photography – especially since Apple had secured permission from other Western capitals."
Was the permission from other capitals granted before or after the world knew the name "Snowden"? Maybe now is not the right time to be asking...