Village mob thwarts Google Street View car

antiquark

antiquark

Derek Ross
Local time
2:37 PM
Joined
Nov 11, 2006
Messages
1,494
Location
Winnipeg
View My Gallery
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6022902.ece

An April 2 article, probably not a joke.

“My immediate reaction was anger; how dare anyone take a photograph of my home without my consent? I ran outside to flag the car down and told the driver he was not only invading our privacy but also facilitating crime This is an affluent area. We’ve already had three burglaries locally in the past six weeks. If our houses are plastered all over Google it’s an invitation for more criminals to strike. I was determined to make a stand, so I called the police.”
Click to expand...
 
angrymobfa2.jpg


or is it

mob_article_large.article_large.jpg
 
Well, I can see the people's point of view too. I mean, look at that car! Could they have made it any more obvious? WE ARE TAKING PHOTOS OF YOU AND YOUR PROPERTY is what it screams. The message I got when I was growing up was that you could get away w/ most anything if you did it in good taste. That *@!$# car is in terrible taste. If they hid the camera in a big pineapple on top people would just smile. Idiots.
 
I think 'google street view' sucks personally! I realise that technically it's not an invasion of privacy but for me it crosses the boundaries of common sense and decency.

Google have more than enough of a grip on the world as far as I'm concerned ... I'll be throwing rocks at their car also if I see it I'm afraid! 🙁
 
I think that ultimately something like this will be Google's undoing. People will get fed up with the "inadvertent" invasions of privacy, invasions of privacy that aren't except when you can put 2, 3, and 4 pieces of information together on Google, and Bam - they'll be hoist by their own "do no evil" petard. Not that I have anything against Google. I think they're still the best thing about the Internet.

/T
 
I haven't entirely decided what I feel about Google Streetview, but honestly...

It's generally pretty well known which parts of town are wealthy, and if I were going to rob somebody I'd go take my own photos...
 
I, personally, have no problem with it. But it's fun to watch the outrage of the loonies... beats watching reality TV.
 
what scares me about google satellite maps is that you can zoom in and see someone's entire property if you want to rob them, or worse.

our neighborhood is very dense and very wealthy and people get robbed all the time. many of them are out of town for months at a time and thieves find a way in and just take their time. our house is isolated and would be nearly impossible to get to without being detected unless you had google maps to show you the route through one of the neighbors yards. thanks google!

the other thing that's really creepy is the 'at this address' link that sometimes pops up when you enter an address. i typed in my home address and up popped my name! i know you can get this info from the county records, but this seems like too much of an invasion to me.

i guess people will get more upset about after some axe murderer says on the news that he got in the house by looking at google maps!

bob
 
No, it isn't an invasion of privacy -- because if you can see it from a public space then you don't have privacy. For there to be an invasion of privacy, a big requirement would be that there has to be privacy to invade. You might just as well walk naked through the town square and complain about the people who look at you. It's ridiculous.
 
FallisPhoto said:
No, it isn't an invasion of privacy -- because if you can see it from a public space then you don't have privacy. For there to be an invasion of privacy, a big requirement would be that there has to be privacy to invade. You might just as well walk naked through the town square and complain about the people who look at you. It's ridiculous.
Click to expand...


does a large fence around your property count for anything? does that entitle me to any kind of privacy? you can't see my house from any public space except the air above it. why should it be legal for google to give you a map that shows you how to rob my house?
i'm not arguing the legality of google doing this, i just don't think it's right.

bob
 
bob338 said:
you can't see my house from any public space except the air above it.
Click to expand...

The air above your house, from any altitude, is fair-game for surveillence. If you want to protect yourself you can always do what the military does and hang a cover of cammo netting over your property.
 
bob338 said:
does a large fence around your property count for anything? does that entitle me to any kind of privacy? you can't see my house from any public space except the air above it. why should it be legal for google to give you a map that shows you how to rob my house?
i'm not arguing the legality of google doing this, i just don't think it's right.

bob
Click to expand...

I'm thinking we may all have to buy huge circus tents to put on top of our fences to keep the Google riff-raff out...
 
FallisPhoto said:
Not much, in a country that has double-decker buses.
Click to expand...


actually 'any commercial vehicle with 6 or more passengers' is not allowed to turn onto any of our residential streets. and yes, we do call the police when they try to wedge those g*dd*mend tour vans up the hill!

i know what they're doing is perfectly legal, i'm just saying that i can understand the outrage of the people grumbling about it. i think google has gone too far. if someone wants to rob my neighborhood, i want them to at least rent a plane and take their own surveillance photos!

bob
 
On a related note, Google Street View might actually be breaking Canadian law:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Privacy+office+keeping+Google/1432949/story.html

According to the act, Google must notify the Canadian public that they are undertaking the photographic initiative before they begin.However, the company has revealed it has been taking pictures for months. A spokeswoman for Google told the Citizen that the company has already collected enough images to offer Street View in many Canadian cities.


One thing that irritates me about Google is their arrogance. Like this example, in which they outright ignore Canadian law, probably because they think they have the right to.
 
antiquark said:
On a related note, Google Street View might actually be breaking Canadian law:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Privacy+office+keeping+Google/1432949/story.html

According to the act, Google must notify the Canadian public that they are undertaking the photographic initiative before they begin.However, the company has revealed it has been taking pictures for months. A spokeswoman for Google told the Citizen that the company has already collected enough images to offer Street View in many Canadian cities.


One thing that irritates me about Google is their arrogance. Like this example, in which they outright ignore Canadian law, probably because they think they have the right to.
Click to expand...

This law, if written as reported, seems rather weak-kneed. All Google would have to do to comply is publish what we, South of the Border, call a Public Announcment in newspapers. They are tiny ads in the least read part of the paper, yet they qualify as notifying the public of rather important things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom