I’ve mentioned this before but it bears mentioning again: Google Street Views freaks a lot of people out. And I mean a lot of people.
This time it’s stirred up privacy concerns in Baltimore where some are getting a bit perturbed at the fact that no matter how much effort you put into your personal privacy on the internet, your house is still visible to anyone who wants to see it if in Street Views. And if your cars are in the driveway, those are visible as well.
The most interesting part about the article is that it states yes, you can make a request to have Google remove images of your home from its database, but technically they don’t have to; that’s the scary part. Fortunately the big G does honor requests without complaint.
Personally I feel it’s all too easy for a burglar to case properties using Street Views. All he or she has to do is go online and look for homes with obvious security flaws (which are plainly visible most of the time), mark target homes and that’s that. That’s just way too easy.
And for those who say, "I don’t worry, my home is secure!", that’s what most people say before their houses get broken into.
I do sincerely appreciate what Google Street Views does as a public good, however I can totally understand the privacy concerns.
Is your house on Google Maps Street Views? And if yes, does it bother you?
Let us know in the comments.
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I have absolutely zero problem with it. Google Street View takes pictures from the street, which is a public right of way. If we start restricting Google from taking pictures in public, then the next thing that happens is that the government will start restricting private photographers, like me, from taking pictures in public. This is not a path we can go down if we value our freedom.
It would be one thing if Google was trespassing on private property to get their photos, but they aren’t. Any pictures taken from a public road are 100% fine in my opinion.
As for burglars using it to case homes, as Bruce Schneier repeatedly points out, you can apply that same logic to anything. Burglars use phones to see if people are home by calling the house and seeing if anybody answers! Burglars use cars to drive to places they rob! Burglars use McDonald’s to fuel their crimes! Let’s ban phones, cars, and fast food! The benefits of Google Street View far, far outweigh the costs. Just because bad people may use it doesn’t mean we should get rid of it. If we did that for every object a criminal has used throughout history, we would be living in caves.
What Dr. Gonzo said!
hear, hear!
My house is on google and my two kids can vaguely be seen looking out the window. Using the panaramic view, I can see that there are no cars in the driveway or across the street where we also park! But I can’t figure out why the kids are home without anybody else home! Do they video one side at a time? Maybe we went out before the other side was videoed? Also, as far as burglars using it to case out a house, this isn’t live or even recent. Things can and do change. Just because there is no security when the video was taken doesn’t mean there won’t be at a later time. I love googling street views! It lets me know what to expect or what to look for when going somewhere unfamilar. Keep it going!