Should google street view be banned?
No. I can walk down your street and see a lot more than I can on Google and take photographs in higher definition and with a telescopic lens. The real invasion of privacy is the Government which has required internet service providers to keep records of everyone you contact by e-mail which they can use to check up on you , your family, friends, business associates etc. Google are rank amateurs in comparison.
In the UK and many other countries it is completely legal to take pictures of anything so long as you are on a public street, I could walk down your street with my camera stopping every 5 feet to take a picture. You indicate that you would call the police if you saw someone doing this, however the police would have no grounds to stop me from doing this, regardless of your suspicions. So long as I am on a public road, neither you or the police can prevent me from taking photographs. These rights play an important part in or freedom of expression/freedom of speech/freedom of the press. B) Street map does not show you anything that you can’t see anyway by just walking down the street. C) People’s faces and car registration numbers are blurred out. D) I don’t know what kind of fantasy world people are living in but burglars will not use this to plan their burglaries and if they do they are fairly inept burglars. They are far more likely to simply walk down your street looking for an easy t
But it *is* legal for a complete stranger to walk down the street and take picture of your house… and it’s legal for him to make the photo public. In many countries, it’s also perfectly legal to take pictures of people in the public-sphere. To make taking pictures of houses and streets illegal without prior consent, would also seriously hamper the freedom of speech, freedom of expression (e.g. art) and the freedom of the press. Should press-photgraphers be required to hunt down a buildings owner or seek permission from the occupants, before photographing a building on fire or the building where some mad-man is holding hostages? If people can see something — like your house — then they sure should be allowed to photograph it too.
*I really don’t understand what the uproar is about Streetview. If they were uploading blueprints of people’s houses, or detailed personal information, I’d be all aboard that bandwagon. However, they’re driving by your house and snapping a picture. This is no different than the 100s of people that walk by your house and take a look at it every single day. Really, what are they seeing? the front of your house, maybe the plants in the front yard, whoopy doo. Not a whole lot anyone can do with that information. The moment street view turns into a live 24/7 streaming feed, that’s when i’ll be out there throwing a huge fit, but we’re a loooong ways off from having that kind of ability.
