Google criticized for using pre-Katrina maps on Google Earth

A congressional subcommittee has said Google is not doing a good job by showing pre-Katrina maps on their mapping service Google Earth.

Google just recently replaced the images of the region with the older images taken before the hurricane. The subcommittee said that this process does “great injustice” to the storm’s victims.

They have also now asked the Google Inc. Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt to explain why his company is using the outdated imagery.

Subcommittee chairman Brad Miller said in a statement: “Google’s use of old imagery appears to be doing the victims of Hurricane Katrina a great injustice by airbrushing history.”

John Hanke, Google’s director for maps and satellite imagery had this to say: “The latest update from one of our information providers substantially improved the imagery detail of the New Orleans area.”