Google Street View – Are you OK with this?
So today our whole office erupted with everyone quickly going to find their house upon the announcement Google’s street view in Australia. We’re the 5th country to have the search giant take voyeurism to the next level.
I’m still not entirely sure I’m OK with this. Sure, there’s a lot of information about people already on the net (especially soc-net freaks like myself), and a lot of privacy questions, I’m sure. But something about my residence (and not to mention my car out the front!) being in clear view and accessible on the net makes me a little edgy.
What about you? Have you really asked yourself if you’re OK with this?
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.Never forget: just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not after you.
An interesting Australian feature is the lack of Uluru (Ayers Rock). News.com.au reported that this was due to some red tape.
Uluru will be absent from Google Street View Australia at launch. Google spokesperson Rob Shilkin said the search giant had applied for the relevant permits to photograph the Northern Territory, but that images of some areas were still being processed.
Interestingly, there are also reports that the street view is far from complete, but Google does plan the entirety of Australia.
Also of interest:
About Jye
Jye Smith is currently the Digital Strategist for Weber Shandwick Australia. Ranked in B&Ts 30 Under 30, he's a regular keynote speaker and workshop facilitator who specialises in digital strategy, social media marketing, and change management.
Interesting, in France, Google had to blur out faces/plate number on user request…
Apparently that was a condition they had to abide by before they went ahead with the photo taking (sometime last year, circa October).
Still no clear reporting features just yet – something they want to bring in during this launch phase.
Are you ok with it? Might run a poll on the whole thing..
No, I’m not. Hubby was looking at it last night. It’s scary. So people can find out where I live and actually have a picture of my home. Why would they want that and why is Google doing this? I really feel it’s an invasion of privacy.
In our street there is an image of 3 people talking, standing around a car and they are quite identifiable.
It’s very scary indeed. Sure, I might have a listing in the phone book – that’s an address. But it’s not a photo! And what if I don’t want my name in the book? Can I take my house out of the Google Maps?
I think people are having this reluctant acceptance, when maybe we should be acting.
@Kathie Thomas: very scary indeed, I haven’t checked our whole street yet, but I imagine we’d have the same thing. In a neighbourhood like ours, it’s very clear on how one might break and enter.
Googlebrother!
http://www.redbubble.com/people/zomboy/clothing/1491355-1-googlebrother
What a fantastic t-shirt design, zomboy. Do let me know if you have any others coming up!
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Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
You can ask to have your house removed from the street view database.
I don’t really get the concerns people have about this, my only concern would be if they missed blurring someone’s face out, which you report and they fix.
I think the service is really interesting and great, I’ve used it a couple of times now (we’re buying a house) and it’s not like you’re unable to visit these streets in person and look in much higher resolution :)
No thief is using a seven month old low resolution photo to plan a heist!
Satellite images from the various map services give more details about your house (councils use them to track down pool fence offenders for example) so if you’re going to be concerned about something I’d be more concerned about that, but then I’m not concerned about that either ;)
Great points, Lee. I’ve heard so many mixed reports – and I tend to agree with you. The poll speaks for itself.
As long as the options are open, I think we’ll be happy.
Fantastic site by the way.
You can take yourself out of the phone book and your number will be mostly private. You can take your residence out of Google Street Maps, but I’ll still be able to see your house, your car, and the people who might be arriving when I walk down your street. It wasn’t terribly private to begin with.
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