Forum Moderators: open
NLPC Exposes Alleged Home of Top Google [nlpc.org]Executive
To demonstrate his point, the National Legal and Policy Center today released a document demonstrating the threat to personal privacy posed by Google and Google products. Simply using Google Street View and Google Earth, the Center compiled a startlingly comprehensive amount of personal information on a top Google executive in less than 30 minutes, including the license plates of cars outside the executive’s home, the landscaping company the executive uses and even the name of the next door neighbor’s home security company.
Earlier stories
Google Accused of Hypocrisy on Privacy [webmasterworld.com]
Google's UK Street View Gets Clearance, With Safeguards [webmasterworld.com]
[edited by: engine at 4:33 pm (utc) on Aug. 4, 2008]
The .pdf is really revealing.
including the license plates of cars outside the executive’s home, the landscaping company the executive uses and even the name of the next door neighbor’s home security company.
How is this a threat to privacy? These are all things you would be able to see if you were standing on the road outside the house, which last I heard is not illegal.
Wonder if a big NOINDEX NOCACHE sign in the front yard would work :)
In short, Google makes everything faster, easier, cheaper, and without the need for physical presence.
I'd put it right next to the "Caution - Explosives" and "Beware of Dangerous Dog" signs.
those Google featured used together do indeed seem to create a "stalker's tool kit".
How is this a threat to privacy? These are all things you would be able to see if you were standing on the road outside the house, which last I heard is not illegal.
It's a stalker's dream. Wonder how long it'll be until some celeb is murdered or has a kid swiped based on info gathered from Google mapping products.
I understand the downside of these types of services when used by the wrong people, but isn't that the case for a lot of things?
I've used Street View on a number of occasions to verify what a location looks like so I know what to look for when driving down the street.
I do not agree with Google and I have grave concerns about privacy but I do not feel good about NLPC releasing the private street address of a family that is a valid target for kidnapping, attacks etc.
It's a stalker's dream. Wonder how long it'll be until some celeb is murdered or has a kid swiped based on info gathered from Google mapping products.
Another is national security. Google has been banned from US military installations.
The US defence department has banned the giant internet search engine Google from filming inside and making detailed studies of US military bases.
British military bases in Iraq have been "blotted" out from Google Earth maps at the request of the Government to hinder terrorist attacks, it can be revealed....As revealed in The Daily Telegraph last week, an insurgent arrested by British troops in Basra was found with a Google Earth map of the Shatt Al Arab base, home for 1,000 soldiers.
[news.bbc.co.uk...]
The US defense department has banned the giant internet search engine Google from filming inside and making detailed studies of US military bases.
[edited by: SEOMike at 5:32 pm (utc) on Aug. 4, 2008]
Having your phone number listed in the phone book, and your address showing with your number, is far and away a bigger privacy and stalking issue than having Google take a photo of your street for Street View.
This was a pretty silly stunt by NLPC that accomplishes nothing more than anyone else who knows somebody's address can do by standing on the street with a camera.
I'd put it right next to the "Caution - Explosives" and "Beware of Dangerous Dog" signs.
The point is a would-be bad guy can do all the surveillance needed without every leaving his computer. He doesn't have to physically "case the joint".
I'm pretty sure the security guards would have an issue with someone standing outside the house jotting down notes and taking a photograph. Gonna be much harder to notice that same person jotting down notes, etc. when they are doing it from their own home.
Makes me glad I have guns and tactical training.
Same here!
There are other ways to acquire private info for free out there besides Google.
Years ago, I had to go into my bank in order to withdraw money, check my balance, get my statement, etc. Today, I can just flip on my monitor and get all that done in a minute. Of course, that also means that phishers, hackers and other scammers can also more easily get into my account and cause me headaches, but does that mean I'm going to drop online banking altogether and stop using my debit card? Of course not.
Now I realize that you don't have the same choice with Google Street, but similar services exist that will get you the same information that Street does. Background checks, area maps, DMV records, trash cans (which are public domain), etc. Private investigators operate within the law, and unfortunately if stalkers want to operate within the law they can too.
Just because a service can be used for evil doesn't mean I'm going to start doing evil because it's there. And just because this service exists doesn't make it any more likely that a person will commit a crime. If a person, especially someone mentally unstable like a stalker wants to commit a crime, they will regardless of Google Street. And if they didn't have Google Street, they've got a lot of other options.
Just my .02
Bottom line what is the value of Google's spyware to begin with? Is it something you can't do without?
Did I survive without it before it came around? Sure. Could I survive without it? Sure. But I'd rather survive with it.
Years ago, I had to go into my bank in order to withdraw money, check my balance, get my statement, etc. Today, I can just flip on my monitor and get all that done in a minute. Of course, that also means that phishers, hackers and other scammers can also more easily get into my account and cause me headaches, but does that mean I'm going to drop online banking altogether and stop using my debit card? Of course not.
I feel the same way, every new invention can be misused by evil-doers, this just seems to be one of them. And you know what? Somehow I don't really care that I don't have "tactical" training or that I don't have a ninja friend.
Wonder if a big NOINDEX NOCACHE sign in the front yard would work
write a poem on a sign in the yard. copyright it.
google won't store copyrighted work on its servers without permission, right?
problem solved.
ha
Bottom line what is the value of Google's spyware to begin with? Is it something you can't do without?
The purpose is to spy of course. Companies can use Google maps and Google Street View to check supicous orders for example. So if the paint on the front of your house does look too shabby don't be surprised if you don't get a delivery.
