A Time for Change

CNN reports that Google has launched a project to offer 3-D street views of towns and villages across three continents.  However, the residents of a village in the United Kingdom blocked the google car from filming their homes.  In Broughton, which is North of London, the villagers called the police because they did not want their expensive properties on the web:

 ”I was upstairs when I spotted the camera car driving down the lane,” resident Paul Jacobs told The Times of London.

“My immediate reaction was anger: How dare anyone take a photograph of my home without my consent? I ran outside to flag the car down and told the driver he was not only invading our privacy but also facilitating crime.

“This is an affluent area. We’ve already had three burglaries locally in the past six weeks. If our houses are plastered all over Google it’s an invitation for more criminals to strike. I was determined to make a stand, so I called the police.” 

You can hardly blame them for not wanting their homes on the internet. “Google’s Street View project to map 360-degree images of roads and homes across the world has generated numerous complaints over privacy, despite automated software that blurs faces and car licence plates.”  Apparently, if you don’t want your home on Google’s Street view, you need to contact them to have it removed.  Google Tutor provides easy instructions and links on how to do that.

Do we really need to see everyone’s home on the internet? I’m just sayin’.

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