Google Street view of Uluru summit removed after request from traditional owners

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Virtual visitors will no longer be able to explore Uluru from its summit after a sudden intervention. Traditional owners of the sacred site requested Google remove user-generated imagery from the top of the rock. Prior to its closure, visitors had scaled the rock and uploaded a 360-degree view from the summit for anyone to access on the platform’s Street View function.

Parks Australia, which manages Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, issued a request for those panoramas to be removed on behalf of traditional owners of the land. Google, upon receiving the request, said it had immediately pulled the imagery.

A spokesperson said, We understand Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is deeply sacred to the Anangu people. As soon as Parks Australia raised their concerns about this user contribution, we removed the imagery.

Physically climbing Uluru was banned on October 26, 2019, after almost two years of planning. Traditional owners of the land cited the cultural significance of the rock as the reason for the closure. The impending closure saw an uptick in people seeking to climb the rock for the final time in the September school holidays.