Alphabet’s Google confirmed on Sunday it has quickly disabled for Ukraine some Google Maps instruments which offer dwell details about visitors situations and the way busy totally different locations are.

The firm mentioned it had taken the motion of worldwide disabling the Google Maps visitors layer and dwell data on how busy locations like shops and eating places are in Ukraine for the security of native communities within the nation, after consulting with sources together with regional authorities.

Ukraine is dealing with assaults from Russian forces who invaded the nation on Thursday. As missiles fell on Ukrainian cities, practically 400,000 civilians, primarily ladies and youngsters, have fled into neighbouring international locations.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.

Big tech firms together with Google have mentioned they’re taking new measures to guard customers’ safety within the area.

Online companies and social media websites have additionally been tapped by researchers piecing collectively exercise across the struggle.

A professor at California’s Middlebury Institute of International Studies mentioned Google Maps helped him monitor a “traffic jam” that was truly Russian motion in direction of the border hours earlier than Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the assault.

Google mentioned dwell visitors data remained out there to drivers utilizing its turn-by-turn navigation options within the space.

© Thomson Reuters 2022