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Google's Street View service apparently thinks your "no trespassing" and "private road" signs are just for decoration. The service, which gives Web users a driver's perspective of hundreds of cities around the world, has raised the ire of residents who say the images are an invasion of their privacy. Now residents in California's Humboldt County are complaining that the drivers who are hired to collect the images are disregarding private property signs and driving up private roads.In an episode reported recently by the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, a Street View driver cruised past two "no trespassing" signs to collect images of a residence that is 1,200 feet from the public road.
"It isn't just a privacy issue; it is a trespassing issue, with their own photos as evidence," resident Betty Webb told the newspaper. "They really went off the track to get to our address."
Google told the newspaper that, while it has the right to photograph from private roads, it tries to avoid it.
If you blame Google for the deeds done by the drivers who disobey the signs, then you might as well blame any users who use Google's Street Views service. (Now that I've broght that up, I wonder how long until we see the first "virtual tresspassing" law suit subpoenaing Google's server logs to find out all the people who viewed a certain property that had no tresspassing signs posted...)
[edited by: LifeinAsia at 5:59 pm (utc) on Aug. 25, 2008]
Google told the newspaper that, while it has the right to photograph from private roads, it tries to avoid it.Just how do they have the "right" to do that? Private means private, and I'd say I have the right to expect Google to respect No Trespassing signs on my private property.
One of these days they're going to try this with the wrong person and get their tires shot out or something.
Google told the newspaper that, while it has the right to photograph from private roads, it tries to avoid it.
Ya, I know some homeboys too down South who are waiting for your vehicles to show up on their Private Property. If you are the driver of those vehicles, I would strongly suggest that you stay away from those roads marked as private. Those guys/gals don't even know what Google is. All they know is there is a trespasser on their private property. You could have a badge on and it still won't matter. That 12 gauge buckshot hurts! Especially when it is filled with rocksalt for pesky trespassers taking pictures. :)
Those guys/gals don't even know what Google is. All they know is there is a trespasser on their private property. You could have a badge on and it still won't matter.That 12 gauge buckshot hurts!
Powderfinger
Look out, Mama, there's a white car coming up the road....
earthmine inc
[earthmine.com...]
Watch the 6 minute demo here.
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The buzzwords? Georeferenced Data and Point Clouds.
"Pa, looks like we need to move to Plan B?"
[arstechnica.com...]
"It isn't just a privacy issue; it is a trespassing issue with their own photos as evidence," Betty Webb, a Humboldt County, CA, resident told The Press Democrat. Webb and residents of other counties like Sonoma are complaining now that Google's drivers have flat-out ignored over one hundred private roads, "No Trespassing" signs, and at least one barking watchdog in their quest to photograph roads and homes.
Looks like we need to change NO TRESPASSING to include NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW and NOARCHIVE as well!
Google claimed in court that complete privacy doesn't exist:
[informationweek.com...]
With satellites, cameras and other monitoring devices all being tied together by the Internet, it is becoming more and more difficult to completely isolate yourself from view.
I'm sorry but it's a bit of a stretch to go from satellite photos to being on the ground, behind no trespassing signs, gates, a mile down the road... and keeping a straight face about it.
Let's just see how well those arguments hold up when they start photographing in the backwoods where the hillbillies will shoot at anything that doesn't have a local license plate. I can guarantee that some people where I grew up would have that Google camera stuffed and mounted on a wall if it came down their 2 mile dirt road.
Cue the theme from Deliverance...
[edited by: incrediBILL at 11:15 pm (utc) on Aug. 28, 2008]
