New York -- New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Wednesday joined New York Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) to urge companies that offer Internet-based mapping services, such as Google Earth, to follow a three-point plan designed to assure the public that their online services do not compromise federal, state, and city counterterrorism initiatives.
Gianaris has called on services such as Google Earth to restrict satellite images of sensitive infrastructure since 2005.

After consulting with security experts, including former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey, DiNapoli said he is contacting companies that offer satellite imagery to encourage them to:

• Consult with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies, such as the New York Police Department;
• Independently assess the security risks posed by information made publicly available via the Internet;
• Adopt policies and practices necessary to ensure a sturdy self-regulatory framework is in place regarding cutting-edge technology and its potential misuse by terrorists.