Google Street View Causing a Stir

SlashDot Link

There have been two stories in the media this week concerning Google Street View. First had to do with CNET article that compared this feature of Google Maps to George Orwell's terrifying dystopian vision of 1984. The second article was about US Defence Department banning Google map-making teams from making detailed street-level video maps of American military bases. As someone who is very found of this feature and finds it really useful I decided to dedicate this weeks blog to Google Street View.

Google Street View was launched on my May 29th 2007 (my 25th Birthday!) and since than has revolutionized how people look at maps. This feature allows users to see 360 degree photographs on any spot on the map. This feature is only available in certain US cities but the number is growing fast. The photos are fairly high resolution and show many details of a particular area.

Living in San Francisco, I have used this feature on many occasions to look for potential areas to park my car. The images are not updated often enough to actually look for a particular parking spot, but they do allow to see weather there are metered parking and how long the parking time limit is.

However this feature is scaring enough people that CNET included it in their article on technology that's just wrong. Writers compare it to something out of a scary science fiction novel where government can watch your every move. Personally, I do not think there is any reason to worry about this particular feature allowing "Big Brother" to spy on us. First of all, the images quickly go out of date so it is impossible to use them to track someones movement or whereabouts. Second, it is available to everyone and not just the government. Lastly it even includes a feature to report images that may be inappropriate or compromise personal privacy.

In the second story related to this topic, Government has asked Google to take down images of all US Military bases from Street View sighting security concerns. This is what you will see now when trying to use this feature around military bases. Although I am always weary when government is allowed to sensor access to information, I believe that it is justified in this case. Although the chances of someone actually using this information for something destructive is low, military should be allowed to keep maximum amount of security around its assets and personnel.