Google’s Street View presents some complicated privacy issues
Just this week, Google (maybe you’ve heard of them) released its new Street View functionality that shows inch-by-inch, street-level views of several major American cities. Shortly afterwards, the blogging world went nuts. That is to say, some heated dialogues were sparked, either supporting Google’s right to photograph public places (and the sometimes awkward incidental people in those places) or decrying Google as an Orwellian intruder in the House of Personal Privacy.
Big-time blogger Robert Scoble criticized Mary Kalin-Casey for saying a picture of her cat and the inside of her living room invaded her privacy. Scoble defends Google by saying repeatedly in the post that “if you can see something from a public street you are allowed to take pictures of it,” but some of his commentors see things differently. One comment left by “Mark” argues that the 4th amendment’s reasonable expectation of privacy includes visible areas inside their homes.
And the coverage is getting more widespread and public. According to Doug Caverly, in a post on Web Pro News,
CNET’s Daniel Terdiman is creating a Street View photo album of sorts. And mydigimedia’s Amy Webb is reporting a rumor “that very soon, there will be a video option with either live shots or feeds from YouTube.”
Yes, Google Street View is both really cool and a little creepy. It can give you a pedestrian’s-eye view of city streets across America, but it can also give you a peeping-tom’s view of someone’s house. Regardless, it doesn’t seem as big a security risk as – say – identity resolution for airports.
That kind of security-versus-privacy concern seems like a much bigger deal than whether or not some cat got his picture on the internet. But we want to know what our readers think. Is Google Street View a real security risk, or is this a mountain made out of an online mole-hill? Leave a comment and let us know.
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