Friday, June 01, 2007

Google Street View raises privacy concerns

It seems there's nothing that Google can do without raising privacy concerns.

Yesterday, Boing Boing was buzzing with a number of postings about the newly introduced feature in Google Maps: Google Street View. A similar feature has been around for a while by other providers, but the resolution of the pictures posted by Google are the best I've seen. So good you can look in peoples' windows to (g)oogle their cats, see cats in blankets, see folks taking out the garbage (scroll down a little and click on the little man or the green arrow), scope out sunbathers (more sunbathers) and check out a homeless guy sleeping in an alley. I bet none of them thought they'd end up on the internet.

Is there a reasonable expectation of privacy when you're in a public area or at least visible from the street? Does this change the rules or should the rules be changed?

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