Is Google's Street View an Invasion of Privacy?

In the summer of 2007, Google unveiled "Street View," a new feature designed to enhance their already popular Google Maps product, but this new tool could potentially make you the target of online voyeurs.

Google's Street View Uses Image Capture

According to the Google website, Street View is composed of images captured by vehicles "equipped with special imaging technology, driving on public streets." In other words, this is a more professional version of the average person driving around with a video camera mounted on their dashboard. By using Google Maps and zeroing in on street in a city such as Chicago, people can see what a particular area looks like from street level and even zoom in on the residences facing the street.

Google's Street View and Traffic Violation Cameras

Street View makes use of technologies designed for security and law enforcement. In St. Louis, cameras mounted over traffic signals at various intersections throughout the city capture images of drivers committing moving violations. With the license plate number caught on film, police track down the offending driver and mail them a traffic ticket and a photograph of themselves committing the infraction.

Google's Street View: More Than a Time Waster

When Google Maps first made it possible for people to see images of their homes on a computer, it seemed like just a pleasant way to waste some idle time at work, but Street View adds a more invasive aspect to this process. Cameras, especially ones designed for advanced motion capture, are quite unforgiving. In theory, it's possible for private citizens to get caught on film doing potentially embarrassing (i.e. public urination, leaving a motel) or even illegal activities such as breaking and entering.

Google Street Views: Is it a Privacy Violation?

According to a feature in the Times Online, one resident of Berkley, California was quite upset to find a very detailed picture of her cat sitting in the window of her flat after she used Street View to look for her residence. Though the image capture is random, Street Views really is like having millions of potential Peeping Toms looking through the bedroom window.

Paparazzi for the Non-Celebrity

Celebrities have argued that aggressive photographers known as "paparazzi" violate their personal privacy, but these shutterbugs have countered with the argument that a celebrity is a public figure and can be captured on film whenever they are in public.

Street View is almost like having the paparazzi stalk the average person. With no warning when these image capturing trucks will be cruising down the street, it could make people start looking over their shoulders. It's also quite possible for someone to get photographed outside a fertility or abortion clinic, which are details of our personal lives that most of us like to keep private.

Google Argues for Street Views

In the user support area of Google Maps, the company says that the images contain public property, but encourage viewers to flag and report inappropriate content (nudity, intercourse, etc.). The question remains, though, about how long does it take to remove an offending image from the website

Is Google Street View Worth the Trouble?

After playing with this feature on the Google website, Street View just seems like a pretty fancy toy with no practical uses. For all the potential lawsuits and legal headaches this is bound to cause, Google might be better off scrapping this online tool instead of proceeding with their plans of showing more city streets online.

Resource: news.com,"Google's street-level maps raising privacy concerns," Elinor Mills.