If you haven’t noticed, Google Maps introduced a new “street level” feature back in May. You can see panoramic images along the streets of certain cities, as if you were driving along the street in your car. But as The New York Times points out, some people are questioning the legality of it all.
Check out this article where a woman in Oakland, CA is upset because Google’s cameras were powerful enough to show the world a picture of her cat in the window.
If you click the Google Maps link inside of that article (this one) you’ll see that Google was wimpy and deleted the photo. But, just one step to the east, zoom in, and you can see the cat again! I know many people won’t see this, but it’s still fun to point out that this woman is a moron.
The point I’m getting at is that Google took these images by simply driving up and down city streets with a special camera to catch a 360-degree view. The pictures were shot from public streets, the very same streets where any other person could stand and shoot their own pictures.
My favorite quote from the second article was where the woman said “I feel like I need to close all my curtains now.” Um… did she think nobody else with a camera from the street could see her cat before? What about the neighbors across the street? Heck, look at very last link I posted, with the “spite” picture of the cat. Zoom out and swing a little to the right… you’ll see someone walking down the street. I bet that person could clearly see the cat by simply standing on the sidewalk and looking up.
Still, Google allows people to click a link to report an image, if they feel its an invasion to their privacy. I think that’s total BS. If something’s visible to a public street, then it shouldn’t matter if Google happened to capture it for posterity.
In fact, I love street view — not to spy on people, but it’s neat to look at places I’ve been. I can “drive by” familiar sights in New York City, like Nathan’s on Coney Island, or cruise up Broadway past the Ed Sullivan Theater where “The Late Show with David Letterman” is taped. On top of that… it’s great if you happen to be driving to an area you may be unfamiliar with — you can “virtually” drive there so you won’t be taken by surprise by any hidden turns, weird exit ramps, or anything else that might cause you to get lost.
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