Google Maps real-time traffic is temporarily disabled.
Google confirmed on Sunday that it has temporarily disabled portions of Google Maps’ real-time congestion tracking in Ukraine. This was reported by the news agency Reuters.
Google Maps uses the location information of its users to tell others about, for example, traffic congestion or the number of customers in restaurants and shops. Now Ukrainian civilians are being protected by keeping this information off the charts for the time being.
However, potential traffic congestion is still visible to drivers who use Google Maps for navigation.
Since Russia launched its attack on Thursday morning, an estimated 400,000 civilians have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries.
While technology companies are working to protect their users in Ukraine, researchers are using online and Finnish services to form a better picture of what is happening in the war zone.
Reuters reports that a Californian professor who, using Google Maps, was following a traffic jam that was actually moving Russian troops to Ukraine’s borders just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin announced military action.
Axios for its part, the Ukrainian administration announced over the weekend that it would remove road signs to make it more difficult for Russian troops to navigate the country.