Paranoid Villagers Force Google's Car Out of Town

[jp182]

[citation][nom]kansur0[/nom]I think the problem is the immediate availability of these images if someone wanted to use them for crime. Sure...if a criminal wanted to case houses he would have to drive down the street. These pictures help him to do a better job of it. When you are driving down the street you only have a few seconds to glance at something. Here you have all day to study the images and make a plan for gaining entry and escape.I say downtown New York...fine...millions of photos have already been taken of that destination. That's a tourist spot. When it comes to private residence nobody is going to want to look down every single street in every single town. I think the should not be allowed to do this to residential streets. It just isn't needed.[/citation]

Actually, that is what professionals do. They'll drive down the same street multiple times if any of the houses look like they are capable of being robbed. There was a show on Discovery (or one of those channels) where guys would show people how their homes were too susceptible for robbery. And most of their casing involved walking down the street and not driving.

 

[kyeana]

While we recognize the concerns people have with Google Street View, we laughed out loud when we read this story

You are not alone there

 

[Maxor127]

We better get Leon Kennedy or Chris Redfield on this.

 

[asgallant]

I live on an out of the way cul-de-sac in an out of the way town. The only people who could see my house are my neighbors and the (rare) driver who makes a wrong turn. It so happens that my house is not visible from the street, due to a hill and some trees, but my neighbor's houses are in full view. Most of them bought a house on my street for the privacy it affords - privacy that was grossly violated when the Google car drove down my street and photographed all the houses it could. If we had burglaries on the neighborhood prior to the street view images being posted, you can bet that we would have been angry with Google. As it is, there are still a great deal of sore feelings towards Google in the neighborhood.

I totally sympathize with these people. Shame on you for laughing at them - whether you do so in private or not is your concern, but reporting it in a news story is highly unprofessional. Maybe they need to invest in a security system, but maybe they already have one and it didn't deter the burglars.

 

[warezme]

what a bunch of paranoid asses. If the guy interviewed says his neighborhood has been burgled 3 times already than its obvious it had nothing to do with google. Get a dog, neighborhood watch, some of your own camera's whatever it takes but don't take it out on a google car. Thats the true nature of ignorant mob mentality.

 

[Dave K]

There's been lively debate around the easy availability of such detailed mapping information online, IMO neither position deserves to be discounted out of hand. There's no doubt that the bad guys ARE using this information... the Mumbai bombings were planned using the help of Google. Would they have found an alternative if it had not been available?... definitely... but that doesn't change the VALUE of being able to anonymously gather target intelligence.

I think SOME of the problem could be mitigated with navigation tracking... whenever someone zooms into a location at high resolution Google logs the coordinates and ip and stores it for a while. It might not help much for large urban areas but for suburban areas that would get relatively few hits I suspect it would be very useful.

 

[jerreece]

Consider this. Burglars are usually locals looking for goods to steal, which can easily be sold for cash. They use these profits to fuel their drug habits and such. I'm sort of doubting there are to many burglars who spend all day on Google looking for an out of town home to burglarize.

Course if they did, Google could give them turn by turn directions to get there!!

If these folks were having burglaries recently, then they aught to take other steps to prevent them. Home security systems, dogs, being at home, locking doors and windows (be surprised how many burglaries are committed without "breaking" in).

If this mob really wants to reduce the crime rate, instead of hounding the Google mobile, they aught to go door to door interrogating people as to whom burglarized their home. They'd get further doing that, considering the existing burglaries likely had nothing to do with Google at all.

 

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]rudhyar[/nom]The villagers are "Paranoid"? That's insulting and condescending. What ever happened to the "right to privacy"? Nosy people have plenty of options for their voyeurism. Get off your lazy behinds and GO somehwere![/citation]
I dont know what the laws about privacy are in the UK, but here in America, unless your in a private neighborhood the streets are all PUBLIC places. And here in America, you are allowed to take pictures of absolutely ANYTHING YOU WANT IN PUBLIC. There are some exceptions to those rules though. If you have the uber telephoto lens and your taking pictures of a naked girl in her house that is illegal. She has the right to expect her privacy in her own home. But if shes is naked on the front porch, where one does not have that expectation of privacy, its perfectly legal to take that pic.

 

[Guest]

I find this funny because its Britain.... A country where the government has a camera on every street, every corner, and whatnot....

 

[trainreks]

i laugh at the idea of these villagers shaking sticks towards the sky everytime a imaging satelitte passes over.

 

[chaosgs]

ROFL people lack common sense. Like all thieves watch google street for stuff to steal.

 

[Guest]

I welcome the pictures and hope that a criminal picks my house so I can show him my .45 I dont get to pull it out very often and this would give me a chance to finally test it out for its main purpose. GET A GUN.

 

[tiredwolf]

i love stupid people, they make me laugh

 

[HolyCrusader]

The whole talk about theft and burglaries is oftentimes a secondary notion of how people feel their privacy is being invaded. There are individuals that hate having their picture taken in even the most innocent circumstance - having their homes photographed is an extension of the emotional aversion of cameras.

A lot of people also forget that anonymity is the same as no information. It's actually being indistinguishable from other people. If your block has no Google data but everybody else does, that alone is a threat to your anonymity and a thief might think you have something you want to hide.

Although I'm not a law expert, wouldn't the people of this village be in the wrong, for obstructing traffic and harassment of another individual whom is not breaking any laws? Although there was no violence reported, that was a situation that could have lead to a dangerous mob-mentality.

 

[etrnl_frost]

[citation][nom]anfgter[/nom]Lol @ fun with Dick and JaneI was irritated when I found out my street had just streetviewed. 1st, I missed seeing the vehicle, I wanted to see it in person. 2nd, I didn't get to flash my junk at the camera/post a humorous sign for all to see! *shakes fist* D:[/citation]
Heh. Me and a coworker had left the office in downtown Chicago for a Starbucks run. And as we were waiting to cross an intersection, the google car came by. We kind of just stared at it, wondering what the crap that was on the top of the car - then it both dawned on us what it was. At which point it was too late to do anything stupid....

So if you see a short asian guy next to a skinny caucasian guy staring awkwardly into the camera next to a starbucks on the chicago river... yeah. I'm the short one.

 

[reininop]

[citation][nom]Dave K[/nom]There's been lively debate around the easy availability of such detailed mapping information online, IMO neither position deserves to be discounted out of hand. There's no doubt that the bad guys ARE using this information... the Mumbai bombings were planned using the help of Google. Would they have found an alternative if it had not been available?... definitely... but that doesn't change the VALUE of being able to anonymously gather target intelligence.I think SOME of the problem could be mitigated with navigation tracking... whenever someone zooms into a location at high resolution Google logs the coordinates and ip and stores it for a while. It might not help much for large urban areas but for suburban areas that would get relatively few hits I suspect it would be very useful.[/citation]

It's a funny argument if privacy is the concern don't you think? The first guy that gets a knock on his door from the police because a person was murdered in the house he happened to see on google maps two days earlier will be the first guy that has a legitimate claim that his privacy has been violated.

The answer to privacy concerns is not even less privacy.

 

[deathblooms2k1]

When you buy a house you choose your location. If you decide to buy a house right off of a public street then beware of the fact that the public has access to that street. The paranoid people here who think the sky is falling and need all the privacy in the world should be living in properties off of private roads, then they have a case to make. I pay taxes so that your road is maintained, therefore I'm entitled access to that road.

 

[tayb]

[citation][nom]ChaosGS[/nom]ROFL people lack common sense. Like all thieves watch google street for stuff to steal.[/citation]

I laugh at the thought that you think they don't.

How easy is it to check google street view in your area for a nice house or better yet not a nice house but a nice car or boat in the drive way? I'm looking right now around my neighborhood and I managed to find a Toyota Prius. Those are high in demand I think I'll steal it tonight...

 

[manicmalki]

I got my own objections to there street view I dont want people to see my messed up yard. They also tend to have licence plates in view. Its rather rude to do so with out even giving the option.

 

[kgrach]

The only people breaking the law was the villagers.
I can stand in any public street and video tape your house with a giant lens all day long and not break the law.
Invading what privacy?
If it visible from the street it is not private.
If I film you standing in your bedroom naked and I am on the public sidewalk or the street the only person who would be arrested is you.
THATS THE LAW!

Google street is a static view not a live camera.
NO Smart crook is going to use street view for info because it is out of date.
NO dumb crook most are really dumb and lazy would even know how to use google.

you want burglary tools the do a internet search for bump keys.

Google maps satellite is way more invasive because it gives views not visible from the street.
SO you are protesting the wrong thing. Proves my point you are not too sharp.