BS: Google Is Watching YOU

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 10:10 PM

For the first time ever, a good reason for the abysmally drafted Data Protection Act. But that only protects in the UK.

The identities of those in the google pictures would be personal information under the Act, and that must be obtained fairly - in general with consent.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Rowan
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 09:54 PM

Live in a place that Google thinks it can't make any money out of displaying and you'll find the resolution drops to a level where you'd be lucky to discern a decent-sized house, let alone any identifying features. Of course, all your neighbours would, whether you wanted them to or not, would be much more likely to know your business better than even you did.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Bill D
Date: 02 Jun 07 - 07:59 PM

Ok, fine...use Scroogle for searching, and wear a disguise when going anywhere embarassing.

If this continues, it will likely be YEARS between photo-mapping updates....plenty of time for discussion & planning. I'm sorry I'm not as paranoid as you'd have me be, but I don't see this particular venture to be very invasive...ANYONE who wants to do someone harm can take the same drive down the same streets with cameras and take way more sensitive pictures than Google is doing. There are street level pictures of many cities ALREADY posted on the internet where 'you' might have accidently been walking.

here is downtown San Francisco on another site ...with people quite visable. Now what?

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YAHOO
From: Mr Red
Date: 02 Jun 07 - 07:57 AM

I use Alltheweb.com so no it is not. Yahoo is.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 11:17 PM

SF...with the world's highest STD infection index...would be a VERY good place to keep a watchful eye upon.

They could not have selected a more productive place for personal scrutinty....some may even pay to have the "evidence" expunged.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Peace
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 10:44 PM

I agree with you. I also think it's something that could be abused by governments.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: GUEST,Paranoid
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 09:43 PM

OK, so I'm scared, you're not. But in the end all our opinions don't make one bit of difference to external the reality of the situation. A sophisticated surveillance tool is being put right into the hands of anyone who wants to use to destroy. And there are those who do.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Peace
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 09:32 PM

So, basically, we are all gonna become part of The Truman Show.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Peace
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 09:31 PM

I'd worry about both Big Brother and terrorists.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: GUEST,Paranoid
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 09:25 PM

'The argument that "it doesn't bother me" does not carry much impact for those who are, for valid reasons affected invasively.'

We could ALL be affected invasively. What are the implications for national security? I'm more worried about terrorists than I am about Big Brother.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 08:38 PM

An Associated Press article on this is at
Google hits streets, raises privacy concerns

A sample picture (the picture appears to have been partially blurred to avoid identifiable features of the person shown) does show that the playpen inside the house is pretty clearly identifiable. Note that the "fine zoom" slider on the left is at about 50%.

A previous similar effort by AOL was discontinued after numerous complaints, including objections from a "battered women's" facility that felt that showing pictures of women entering might make some reluctant to approach the facility for needed help.

A current Google "street scene" is being objected to because it "happens" to show a women's clinic during a weekly protest picketing session, giving a distorted "impression of risk" to those who might need its help.

The argument that "it doesn't bother me" does not carry much impact for those who are, for valid reasons affected invasively.

It would seem that Google has not clearly thought through what their "editorial policy" will be, and while it's possible that a policy that lives up to their "Don't Be Evil" creed can be worked into this, it's not apparent that they've tried really hard on it at this point.

Maybe those who don't wish to be shown at "Street View" need only post a small "GOOGLE SUCKS" sign in the window? If enough of them appear, perhaps a policy will follow.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Bee
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 08:19 PM

Somebody warn me when Google gets around to the distant boonies of Canada, so I don't get caught in my nightie having coffee on the wharf some morning before my face reacquaints itself with gravity.

Monitors will crack.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 07:29 PM

"...who says they're gonna just film the streets?"

*grin*...if they come inside with a camera, you'll know....well, I know *I* will.

I just looked up & down Mason St. in San Francisco...till the picture froze, anyway. Must be quite a load on the hard drive. You 'could' recognize folks if you knew them, maybe...but it was just a moment in time, and it doesn't say when that was. Personally, I LIKE web cams where I can see live shots of well-known places, and if I'm ever at one, I'll wave to you....but this is, so far, a tourist gimmick....a 'virtual tour' of famous cities.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 07:26 PM

When they get round to doing this for places like Venice or Prague it'll be a bit more fun using it.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: skipy
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 07:20 PM

Be scared, very scared, if you have something to hide! but for most of us, who gives a shit, I don't, so bring it on.
If we had true all round tracking 24 / 7 a certain little girl would not be missing now! In fact whoever took her probably would not have as they would not have got away in the first place.
If children where chipped at birth, as we do with puppies, cars & motorbikes, she would have been found within minutes, if infact taken at all.
Please don't bother going on about "civil liberties" we as are on camera up to 300 times a day, we can be triangulated on our mobiles, our store cards show our habits, google knows more about us than we do!
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 06:37 PM

As the article describes it, the street level views in New York are detailed enough to recognize that there are people, and in some cases what the unidentifiable person might be doing.

San Francisco, where street level views were added much more recently, probably is the only one thus far where individuals can be recognized and can be identified with some confidence.

At present, the article indicates that New York was the first, and San Francisco the most recent of about four cities where detailed street level views are available now. It's the remarkable improvement in detail between the two, and the suggestion that all future additions of this feature will likely be of the same quality as the latest one - or better - that the writer findes scary.

While Londoners are accustomed to being observed by street cams plugged into the local cop-shops almost ubiquitously, and may consider it normal, most in the US remain "more private" (note: other words can be used) in their attitude toward "being watched."

This latter (US) attitude may be related to the willingness, within some segments of US populations, to condemn and demand prohibition of "immoral acts" on the part of others while hoping no one will know that the banned activity is among the individual's own favorite pastimes(?).

John

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Don Firth
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 06:36 PM

Bob, that was you!??

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: skipy
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 05:09 PM

I'm going to wear more dresses out in the streets, that way I will be able to download a portfolio!
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 04:50 PM

Damn! If they get high tech enough to see in windows, I will have to start making the beds.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: MMario
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 04:23 PM

they've integrated satallite photos as well; and depending on scale you can overlay the "drawn" map with the satellite photo - at least for some areas and some scales.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Peace
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 04:18 PM

So who says they're gonna just film the streets?

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 04:15 PM

??? This is not 'live cams'...there ARE traffic cams in many cities that are live, but the Google street views are (1) only in about 4 cities right now, and (2) are NOT current. People walk/drive the streets and photograph them, then integrate the views so that you can see the area as if you were at street level. I can 'see' the cars in MY driveway, too...but the car I sold just over a year ago is still there. Someday, they will update that image to show changes in the area, but maybe not for 3-4 years.

We have a lot more to worry about than being seen on the street. Invasion of PRIVACY? What is private about walking down the street?

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Deckman
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 03:59 PM

Hi Don ... Didn't you see me waving at you? Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 02:53 PM

No more need for private detectives to photograph wayward hubbies coming out of massage parlors. Wifey can tail him herself from the comfort of her own laptop.

I'm sure Chongo will be quite upset by this news since it will probably have a negative impact on his bottam line. If you live within poop-slinging range, you might want to carry an umbrella.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: GUEST,dianavan
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 02:44 PM

This is just plain creepy. Its like someone having binoculars on you at all times. This is definitely an invasion of privacy and will be used by stalkers, pedophiles and any number of criminals. I hope this will be challenged in court.

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Don Firth
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 02:34 PM

Hmm. Interesting!

While sitting cross-legged on my bed and with my laptop, I just cruised my neighborhood. Capitol Hill in Seattle.   I went up to Volunteer Park, then tootled on down to Seattle Central Community College, then back again, checking out the Jack-in-the-Box parking lot on my way back.

Maybe I don't know how to do it, but the closest view I was able to get didn't show much detail. For example, the top of the building I live in:   straight down, the only angle offered. All I could see of the building itself was the roof. The image of the roof was about the size of a postage stamp.

Just for the helluvit, I checked Bob (Deckman) Nelson's house in Everett. Found it fairly easily, having driven there quite a number of times. There was a vehicle parked where I think Bob usually parks his truck, but I couldn't see enough detail to tell if it was his truck or some other vehicle.

No way could I even pick out people, much less recognize faces or read cars' license plates.

Also, are these images current? If so, how often are they updated?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 01:55 PM

My sister found out her daughter was skipping class by google-mapping her house, seeing her daughter's car, and looking at the date when said daughter ought not to have been home...

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: MMario
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 10:25 AM

Is google taking the photos, or just accessing someone else's database?

Subject: RE: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: Amos
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 10:18 AM

I don't see any problem so far. It is an interesting step toward the Big Brother universal monitor, thoguh...




A

Subject: BS: Google Is Watching YOU
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Jun 07 - 08:29 AM

Even for those with good connections who can access Google Maps (I can't) the latest - and coming - developments may not have come to your attention:

Google Is Watching US!
[quoting]
ARTICLE DATE: 05.31.07, By Lance Ulanoff

Remembered how worried you were that Google was collecting your search habits and invading your privacy? You can drop that worry now, because I have a whole new Big Brother concern for you to grapple with. Google is taking 360-degree images of major cities across the US and tying them together with its increasingly popular Google Maps sevice, and in some of the photos, you can make out faces, license plates, and more.

When I first heard about this, I dismissed the concern. Amazon's A9 search engine started documenting street corners and intersections in major cities over a year ago. So I could virtually stand at the intersection of 28th and Madison and see my building and all the adjacent ones as well. There were people in these images, too, but I couldn't make out any of them.

Google maps, however, is a different story — well, a partially different story. I actually love the service because you can start out with a global or nation-wide view and zoom all the way down to the street address of your choice. At each level you get a new, and useful, view. You can see simple maps, complex maps, street and highway info, satellite imagery and local business information. It, like Yahoo Local and MSN Virtual Earth, is a powerful, free service.
I decided to check out the street view and see if things are really as bad as people say. I started by using an area I know well—New York City. This is one of a handful of cities currently covered (though not 100 percent) by Street View. I virtually walked down Park Avenue and then moved to the narrowed streets of lower Manhattan. I "walked" up Church and then landed on Reade street (all intersections show which direction you're heading, and moving forward can be done by clicking in the direction you want to go on the image or holding your mouse down and dragging the image in your desired direction). In the image on the southeast corner of the street, I saw a woman. I zoomed in closer. She was obviously pregnant and wearing a white shirt, black pants, and a gray jacket. I could even tell that she had sunglasses on and was talking on her cell phone. That was kind of creepy.

I decided to see if I could find a way to identify her. I used the PrintScrn key to grab an image of my desktop and then pasted the desktop image into Adobe Photoshop. Then I zoomed in on her and applied an unsharp mask to try and sharpen up her features. No matter what I did, she still never became clear enough for me to say that I saw a "recognizable face." I tried this experiment with a number of images in the New York Maps and never got anything near a real face, no matter what I did in Photoshop.

Fine, I was satisfied that for all the "the sky is falling!" nervous nellies, Google was not in fact spying on us. No one would be caught going to a job interview or exiting a strip club.
No one except for unfortunate people living in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Difference:

Turns out that the camera array Google's using to grab 360 views in San Fran is, apparently, ten times better than anything they used in New York City. I'm guessing that New York was the first city Google did and then the company upgraded the equipment for San Francisco.
Now I can zoom in and see a San Franciscan guy (as reported on drudgereport.com) standing outside a strip club. Is he leaving it? Is he just walking by? We could study his body language and expression all day, but we'll never know. But we do know that this guy was there and anyone who knows him will recognize the face. These West Coast images were stunning. I could read license plates and even store window signs. None of those things are at all clear in the New York images.

If New York was first and San Francisco is second, then subsequent cities could have even more to worry about as the arrays improve and images get crystal clear.

Privacy concerns are being raised right now, but Google will not back off from this plan—it's way too valuable. Think about the power of localization. Now you can find the pizzeria in a neighboring community, virtually walk up to it and see if it looks nice outside and, eventually I think, inside. When you click on the tightest images, a menu could pop-up. Certainly Google can sell the whole block on text ads for their goods and services. Multiply that by all the streets in a city and you have, well, another Google fortune.

I guess Google could blur people's faces and other sensitive info. It looks like they've done the same for sensitive satellite images). Yet, I doubt that even Google will have the resources to do this and, to be fair, these images are a moment in time. That poor schlub isn't standing on the street in front of that strip club today. He was there weeks, months, or even more than a year ago. Of course, let him try telling that to his wife.

[end quote - some bold added]

John