June 12, 2007 4:00 AM PDT
Are Google's moves creeping you out?
Several weeks later, the information technology manager at the French American International School was alerted that a picture of him sitting at the cafe could be found on Google's online map as part of the search giant's new street-level photo view.
"The HR manager ran into me in the hallway, and she pulled me aside and...said, 'Do you know that there are cameras everywhere?'" Israel recounted. "Of course, I was a little freaked out because it's the HR person telling me that we got busted having a coffee next door...My mother is surprised I haven't been fired."
Google's recently unveiled Street View stunned many with its photos of the unsuspecting, from a man climbing a front gate to another walking out of a strip club, but it's hardly the first time the company has compiled a massive database of material that some would want to remain private. Indeed, Google has for years been storing every Web search and analyzing the topics of Gmail so it can serve customers with related advertisements.
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But now that Google is serving up images from the sky with Google Earth, creating street-level images with Street View and tracking customer behavior in cyberspace, some are starting to ask: how much is enough? As blogger Michael Rasmussen wrote in a comment about Street View on the Boing Boing blog, "Damn right, it's creepy."
Saturday, the British activist group Privacy International released a scathing report that said the company is "hostile to privacy" and ranked it the lowest out of nearly two dozen major Web sites when it comes to privacy issues.
Google Maps Street View was singled out. "Techniques and technologies (are) frequently rolled out without adequate public consultation (e.g. Street level view)." Google also has a "track history of ignoring privacy concerns," the report said. "Every corporate announcement involves some new practice involving surveillance."
In addition to Google's "aggressive use of invasive or potentially invasive technologies and techniques," the bad grade was given because of the "diversity and specificity" of Google's products and the ability to share data between them, as well as the company's market dominance and number of users.
Nicole Wong, deputy general counsel who oversees privacy issues at Google, argued that the report was inaccurate and misleading, and complained that Google didn't have a chance to respond to the criticisms.
"The allegations in the report misunderstood a number of our products," Wong said. "More importantly, when you look at the actual ranking, it misses the point on a lot of things we do very well."
For instance, the company partially anonymizes part of the Internet Protocol addresses of searchers after 18 to 24 months, while no other company has publicly stated their retention policy, she said. In addition, Google was the only one of 34 Internet companies to challenge a U.S. Justice Department subpoena on Web searches last year, Wong added.
Search engine expert Danny Sullivan sided with Google in his blog Search Engine Land but wondered if Google is entering new and increasingly controversial territory with its latest product.
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Also, make sure the mapping and photo taking vehicles are well marked. If you see one coming, hide your face! Maybe notifications that the mapping is taking place should be posted in the local newspapers.
Other than that, if you aren't doing anything wrong, why worry about the photos?
Enough already!
So this is how they will get cameras on every street like they did in Britain. Let free enterprise install the cermas instead of the government.
Big Brother is still Big Brother.
I first heard about Google when I watch a 60 minute program on privacy and the internet several years ago, way before the IPO.
Google had just acquired the rights to the Usenet. Google them promptly put up every post, without blinking an eye. Not a thought was given about being sensitive to people, for example what about people crying out for help with an abusing spouse? That's recorded forever and on display everywhere...
...No thanks to Google.
Then there was the massive amount of personal information that google proudly displays, no thought at all about peoples privacy. BUT when one of the Google founders was also Googled, and people found his address...and other sensitive information, lawyers were brought in to suppress the information.
...2-faced privacy policies, no thanks to Google
Google introduced sattelite maps. So now every burglar can scope out who's likely rich and who's not. Where's the best escape route... How to get into your house. Not even a thought about privacy,
...Again, no thanks to Google
Google acquires YouTube. YouTube, another company that could care less about privacy or copyright laws. Google only acquires the company because YouTube has the largest customer base, ethics be dammed.
Google gets sued for One Billion dollars by people concerned about the infringement on their copyrights. Only then does Google realize, we could lose Billion or more dollars. So they slowly start a process of digital id'ing material on YouTube.
...Greed without a thought about the consequences, brought to you via Google.
...Organized stealing, brought to you by Google and it's proxies.
So is it any surprize that Google now wants to take a photo of you and post it on the internet?
Why doesn't Google start posting all Medical Records?
Why doesn't Google start posting all credit reports?
Why doesn't Google start posting all driving records?
...
Oh, don't worry, they already have that information, and they are working on posting it to the Internet as soon as the right government is purchased.
http://streetviewgallery.corank.com
Google has very clearly stated that they will keep your information away from anyone else, they just want to use it to better their products and services.
It's doubtful that we will be able to return to a de facto condition of anonymity; so we will have to either adjust our behaviors, or change our standards of expectations of acceptability. Arthur C. Clarke's novel, "The Light of Other Days", presents a fascinating vision of what a worldwide society would look like with the total absence of privacy; as well as some of the threats people face during the emergence of such a condition.
This is open land.
If you show it then it will be seen.
If you don't want it to be shown then why do it?
The only use for google earth is for drunk men looking for nude beaches.
Google didn't put the eye in the sky--we did.
I cannot help but wonder if all of this concern for privacy isn?t just the reflection of a guilty conscience.
- What ever happened to...
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by btljooz
June 12, 2007 2:55 PM PDT
- Laws [b][u]AGAINST[/u][/b] [i]Peeping Toms[/i]?????? EH?
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