RSSGoogle's Street View expansion brings privacy jitters
By Ed Oswald | Published December 12, 2007, 2:28 PM
Google's expansion of the street view option for its mapping service into another eight US cities has renewed privacy concerns over what it photographs.
With the addition of the new cities, 23 municipalities can now be viewed in a realistic street-level view through Google Maps. While the focus is currently on the major cities of this country, Google says it plans to add cities big and small in the future.
However, some are a little disturbed by the potential invasion of privacy that the service may present. There's no telling what the roving Google Maps trucks could see, and some don't want to be part of Google's application.
The images are clear enough that people photographed would be able to be identified rather easily. Additionally, in some cases the photos may be clear enough that users could peer inside buildings in the imagery.
For example, this could be a problem for those wishing privacy in their daily lives. When the service launched in San Francisco, critics noted they could identify the faces of those entering adult bookstores. In other cases, license plate numbers of cars are clearly visible.
Google has the technology to obscure these details, including faces, but won't be using it in the United States. Other countries require the Mountain View, Calif. company to do so, and it would be used there.
"In the privacy realm, Google is asking people for a lot of trust. The ball is really in Google's court to prove they're not going to violate people's privacy," Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School John Palfrey told the Boston Globe.
And now for phase 2...
Houston Police Chief Wants Surveillance Cameras In Private Homes
http://www.infowars.com/...wants_cams_in_homes.htm
Shall we choose fear or love?
I say fear not. Live in the moment.
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|It proves that privacy in the U.S just don't exist, in the UK, no one have the right to take a photo of anyone unless they get permission.
It is a shame that U.s companies who operate in the U.K forget that our privacy laws are stricter than the US
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|What about the cameras on street corners everywhere? I lived in London for a year and read that the average person walking in downtown is photographed 100 times?
Don't say that it is ok because it is the "government" - I was riding in the tube waiting in a station once and standing by the control room where you can see the monitors which link into the CCTV system. There was a couple kissing on a platform and the controller zoomed in on the girl in a voyeuristic way. IF you don't believe that, imagine how otherwise boring it must be to watch rows of screens all day.....
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|I'm all for Google's Street View expansion... with what third-party developers can add, soon we'll be able to take a virtual tour of NEW places we plan to vist: never to get lost or wander into harm's way again.
Now, if you're a married man with kids who gets caught in enthusiastic PDA w/ your secret boyfriend... well... what can i say...
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|If I want privacy in my own home, I'm smart enough to close the blinds so nobody can see in.
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|Personally I'd like to see what's on the Moon, how's that Google rocket thing going?
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|OMG give me a break! There IS NO right of privacy in PUBLIC. That's what public means, you are IN PUBLIC. Everyone can see you. It is LEGAL to photograph you. You're in public! Google is not photographing inside your bedroom at 3AM. If you don't want to be seen going into a porn shop, wear a George Bush mask.
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|I believe you are right, but it doesn't give you right to post my picture to everyone to see.
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|is that moral or legal right ?
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|Right but before this people did have the expectation that their walking into a porn shop would not be recorded for all time and posted onto the web...
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|Its always the people with the tin foil hats...
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