Google Streetview - Blessing or Curse?

**~~Æmeric~~** · 05-23-2009, 03:26 AM

In the US, county assessors or whoever the local property tax czar is already has pictures of your property for tax purposes. And some county assessor websites have these pictures uploaded to the web for public viewing as part of the public record.

**Zyklop** · 05-25-2009, 05:14 PM

Some negative examples of streetview imagery:

Naked Street View

The images shown on the site above already have been removed from streetview though.

**Zyklop** · 06-03-2009, 03:40 PM

Norc is a streetview clone focusing mainly on Eastern-Europe:

**Barreldriver** · 06-03-2009, 04:44 PM

Google Streetview today, tomorrow t.v.'s that can see everything you do and torture you if you do not follow the exercise program that is programed to appear every morning on the t.v., and the thought police come kicking in you door.

For real though, this is one step closer to the exact shit that happened in Orwell's 1984, Google streetview to me is very similar to the t.v.'s and such in 1984 that "monitor" the citizens.

**Freomæg** · 06-03-2009, 05:48 PM

I'm worried about the precedent it sets. It's easy to laugh this stuff off as a far-cry from 'Big Brother watching you', but how far off is it really? In Britain, we're surveilled on every corner and we've grown accustomed to it. When the government announces that they routinely listen in on private phonecalls, or tap into our webcams to make sure we're not building dirty bombs, will we draw a line, or will we brush it off in the same manner we did Google Streetview - saying to ourselves that 'it doesn't matter because we've got nothing to hide'?

Yes, it's a fun tool, but all technology is a double-edged sword. I'd say the tyrants find it very handy in deed that all of the things which help them to maintain state control over our lives are enjoyable, and as such, things we beg for rather than resist.

Google Streetview itself is harmless, but it would worry me hugely if we didn't draw a fat, indelible line right there.

**~~SwordoftheVistula~~** · 06-03-2009, 08:19 PM

The difference is Google can't come and arrest you if they see something they don't like

**Freomæg** · 06-04-2009, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by SwordoftheVistula

The difference is Google can't come and arrest you if they see something they don't like

True. But I think we're a little naive if we think google aren't in cahoots with the government, or - at the very least - the government don't have full access to everything 'google'.

They're not using google for law enforcement... yet. It's just a very slippery slope, that's all I'm saying. As long as we're continuously analytical about all this kind of stuff, it's fine.