Warning: Google Is In Your Driveway
April 8th, 2008Via: The Smoking Gun:
Faced with a lawsuit by a Pittsburgh couple who claims that their privacy was invaded by Google’s “Street View” mapping technology, the search giant has removed images of the family’s home from its servers. Several photos of the Oakridge Lane home of Aaron and Christine Boring have been yanked from Google Maps and replaced with a black image, as seen below… As the “Street View” images show, a Google vehicle–outfitted with a roof-mounted camera taking 360-degree images–drove down the gravel path and onto the paved driveway leading to the McKee home. The Google car continued past the steps leading to the McKees’s front door and came to a stop outside the house’s three-car garage (and next to the family’s trampoline and portable basketball rim). Taking photos all the time, the Google vehicle was squarely on private property, a fact that presumably should have been apparent when the gravel path became paved. Janet McKee, who was unaware of the “Street View” images until contacted by TSG, said that it was “a little bit creepy to think of someone filming our home without me knowing about it.” She said that the property line began with the paved driveway.
While my experience of seeing Mom’s property on Google Earth SHOCKED me, and made me feel like I wanted to buy camoflauge cloth to hide the place, this story takes the cake.
Who the hell does GOOGLE think they are?
Is there nothing left of decency, the right to privacy, or for crying out loud – MANNERS? or will they also Google my (*&) just because it exists?
I love that Google put a big black picture up. Gives me several ideas to use as really good aerial photos for them.