Google Earth: Privacy Questioned

It seems a simple enough of a concept; take the Google Earth phenomenon to the street level and have fun. But when some people find out that some pictures of their property are online, as reported by The Smoking Gun and The Boston Globe, and then complain to Google about it, some interesting questions come up.

Is there any complete privacy left to legally defend in this modern age of street corner cameras and identity card swiping? And if there is no complete privacy left to defend, then how much privacy is there and can it be defended?

The digital age brought many conveniences that have revolutionized human society. However, some things seem to have been lost or forgotten or at the very least have become under appreciated. And what is privacy anyway? Do we even need it?

There are not many complaints about the masses of photographers who stalk entertainers to get pictures of any and every moment of their daily life. The burgeoning numbers of periodicals that display those photographs suggest that the average person actually has no respect for the privacy of entertainers; if people did respect that privacy, the publishers might have changed their business models long ago.

When cameras began to appear on public street corners in America, there was outcry from conspiracy theorists and freedom watchdog groups, but the general public took no steps to have those cameras removed. Now the next generation of public surveillance is upon us in the form of technology that reads individual biometrics; again, some outcry from fringe groups, but none from the general public.

It appears that the majority is ok with its continuing loss of privacy.

Is it any surprise then that a multi-billion dollar company has chosen to assert its monolithic resources to further decay the notion of privacy for its own benefit? After all, the U.S. Government already does so in the form of wiretapping.

The only thing that is truly surprising here just might be that there is anyone left who really believes there is any notion of privacy left to defend at all. There is no privacy at your place of business, no privacy at the supermarket, no privacy on the street, and no privacy in your home. You can keep some facets of your life private from some proponents of society, but that privacy is not a complete coverage over your life; at any time authorities can intrude into your home or hack into your online network in the interest of public safety.

There is a message in all of this; if you ignore all of the "wrong way" signs and continue down the highway against the flow of traffic, don't shout "FOUL!" if an eighteen-wheeler smashes into you.