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It looks like it's just business as ususal during our war on terrorism when it comes to our relationship with China. It's one thing reading about the security lapses for years on FR...now they've cropped up here right under my nose in Tennessee. Has anyone else heard of anything like this happening in their area? I'd hate to think we've been giving China free detailed overhead imagery of our infrastructure that they could sell to the highest bidder or find other uses for.

Since highly detailed USGS maps are available at low cost, I don't see how this makes much difference. High-res satellite photos are available on the Internet. All this info is probably in the public domain, anyway.

No offense, but Coffee County is probably not on the priority target list for China (or anybody else). Their missiles won't reach TN, anyway.

The article doesn't specify what task the Chinese sub-contractor would perform in developing the GIS database. The orthorectified images could be used in targeting cruise missles and the infrastructure layers could be helpful in identifying sabotage targets, but this project represents just one small area of the United States. Imagine piecing together a mosaic of finely detailed tiles and only having a bit here and a bit there. I have confidence that NIMA is not giving the Chinese anything of strategic importance.

Actually the data flows in both directions and the Chinese are not happy about it. I work in the GIS field with international data related to energy resource assessment. Many countries, China, Iran and until recently, Russia, purposely distort cartographic data to foil the evil plots of the Great Satan/American hegemonists/Capitalist Imperialists. Of course, Yankee ingenuity results in work-arounds.

I am much more concerned with critical software development taking place in these countries. Their programmers can put in backdoors and boobytraps in applications that they write for banks and other institutions.

While I have been able to get aerial shots for years through the internet and discount the likelihood that there is much a new risk, I do think this is a splendid project for the state to ax given the current chicken little stories about fiscal disaster and wanting new taxes passed.

Thanks for posting this. As a recent elected county official, I was alway intensely interested in even the domestic mischief and further centralized control that could further weaken the local officials in representing their property owning constituents positions.

This is an equally interesting concern, maybe even a little more so.

C.O. Is the GIS touched upon in your newly published book, Natural Process? I want to discuss it with you further. Our County has the ONLY elected County Surveyor in CA and we as electeds, had numerous intense discussions, especially since during the 1994 election process, many constituents were intensely interested in "Devolution," to the point of "County Supremacy!" It was right up there with "Home Rule!"