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Goodbye, privacy: The entire UK set to go on Google Street View tomorrow
The UK is already one of the most-monitored Western countries. It has a record number of security cameras on the streets and public transport stations (one camera for every 14 people!); its authorities are installing chips in garbage cans to monitor the amount of trash, and now Google is "helping out" by bringing Streetview to each and every street, effective tomorrow. 238,000 miles of public roads (lined with private residences, businesses and people) will be available online tomorrow.
On a brighter note, they used the Google Trike to capture images of some tourist attractions such as Stonehenge and Loch Ness. I really wish they would have kept it at that, though.
[EDIT: Many of the commenters feel I'm being unduly alarmist here. I wanted to clarify that this was not my intent. I get it that you like Street View, and that's cool, and it's definitely a useful tool. I can see how this development can also be a positive thing and why people like it -- you are hereby acknowledged, and I thank you for putting things into perspective.]
Comments
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Subscribe to commentsTranscontinentalMar 12th 2010 3:53AM
@Peter> I'm not in the "If you've got nothing to hide, what are you worried about?" camp, I've never been. I hate being tracked, but I believe there is a difference between security cameras ("security" is the right word and I see it is in this article the definition used), Google Street View, and the very definition of tracking. Tracking is linking an identity with its moves in life. Someone please explain how Street View and/or security cameras establish that link: we are anonymous on those medias except for our neighborhood, should we be recognized. This is obviously not tracking.
On another hand, I remain stunned that the very same people who are shocked with the false problem of tracking as above mentioned never mention what, how social networks track, and that is tracking!
Come on, we all know that our private life is not opened to the world with an approximate figure on Street View or a shade on a security camera! This is plain political demagogy! I reaffirm my total commitment to privacy, but in the terms I have tried here to explain.