Is Google Street View a Privacy Concern?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the privacy implications of Google Street View, particularly focusing on how the technology captures and displays images of public spaces. Participants explore the extent of coverage in various cities and raise concerns about the potential invasion of privacy that such detailed imagery may entail.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants highlight the impressive detail of images available on Google Street View, noting specific locations like Lombard Street in San Francisco.
  • Others express concerns regarding privacy, referencing articles that discuss the implications of street-level imagery and the potential for misuse of captured data.
  • A participant suggests that blurring faces and license plates could mitigate privacy issues, although this remains a point of contention.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on whether the benefits of Google Street View outweigh the privacy concerns. Multiple competing views are presented regarding the implications of the technology.

Contextual Notes

Some discussions lack clarity on the effectiveness of privacy measures like blurring, and there are unresolved questions about the ethical implications of capturing images in public spaces.

robphy
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Google Maps... "Street View"

Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...735243,-73.996761&spn=0.007479,0.014591&z=16"
In the embedded photograph, drag to rotate, click an arrow to travel.
On the Google-Map, drag the Orange figure to a Blue-Outlined street.

If you zoom out in "Street View", you can see that only a few areas are covered: New York City, Miami, Denver, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.
 
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Physics news on Phys.org
Here's the best Tapas place on the planet:

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/9835/thompgrandeq2.jpg

This is really cool.
 
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It really is amazing how close of images you can find on google...
 
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2007-06-01-google-maps-privacy_N.htm
"Google's street-level maps raising privacy concerns"

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/06/01/1219256.shtml
"Google Street View Raises Privacy Concerns"
...points to
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/05/request_for_urb.html
Wired's "Request for Urban Street Sightings: Submit and Vote on the Best Urban Images Captured by New Google Maps Tool"

(It shouldn't be too hard to blur faces, license plates, etc...)
 
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