OpenSource Connections
Category: Uncategorized
Google came out with Street View which allows people to view a real image of the street address they are getting directions for on Google Maps. This is not available everywhere yet but it is a cool feature to have. Many times I looked for directions to a place I had never been before and ended up circling around the area many times to actually find the building I was looking for. The directions you get off Google Maps or MapQuest or whichever service you prefer usually end with something like “Arrive at `street number. “ but for the life of me I can never find the numbers on the buildings. What street View provides is a visual way to find your destination based on landmarks or even just the shape of the place you want to get to.
An article on the BBC news website entitled Google accused on privacy views reports that Google was accused of two things: violating peoples privacy and hypocrisy. The first one can be thought of as a criminal offense and a lawsuit resulted from it whereas the second one is merely an opinion but oddly enough it was the topic of the article. Both accusations tickled me and I am going to tell you why.
Street View provides images of public places and streets but unfortunately they made the mistake of including private driveways and homes. One can argue that the view of a house from the outside is public enough that anyone driving by can see it which would not violate anyones privacy. In fact anyone can get the directions to a house and drive by and get even a better view of the place than what Google provides. If someone was looking for a picture of some house or private property, my guess would be that they would not be looking for it on Google Maps. They could use another one of Googles tools which is Google Earth, or they could try to look through real estate websites. The house probably was on the market at one point and a picture of it is available somewhere. I do not think that Street View violates anyones privacy simply because it provides, as the name suggests a view of the street from a passing car. I did say however that Google made a mistake. They included private homes in their service which begged for a lawsuit. Some family somewhere was bound to either feel violated or feel their mouth watering in sight of an opportunity to sue a big corporation for a lot of money. Yet another instance of the McDonald coffee lady (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonalds_coffee_case).
What captured my attention the most was the second accusation. What interests me about it is the fact that the US National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) accused Google of hypocrisy about an issue that is not confined to Google only. This is a subject of many legislation and practices of the US government that go beyond posting a picture of someones house on the internet. At least in the case of Street View you are knowledgeable about its presence and can even control it by removing the picture if desired. I am not criticizing government policies, I leave that to others. I just find it odd that NLPC targeted Google when many other and bigger players in the privacy game exist. As a software developer I am concerned with what comes out of the big technology factories such as Google and Microsoft and how it affects society and peoples lives. I am also concerned with how the publics view is shaped and with the trend of labeling computer companies as they grow bigger and more successful with the tag of evil. We saw it happen with Microsoft (I reserve my opinion on that one) and I see it take place with Google who was the “good” company not long ago and for some it was their “savior” from everything Microsoft but now is getting more and more scrutinized for everything it does.
Google needs to be careful about what they do especially when it comes to privacy issues because of the nature of the services they provide. The company has admirable stands on a lot of issues but the public is merciless and it would be a shame to see another company grow less popular as it grows bigger and more successful.