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How nosy can you be?
27th March 2009. Posted by Dominika Jankowska. Trackback
Photo credit: Wall-Mounted Surveillance Cameras by takomabibelot
“Some will see it as the portal to an Orwellian nightmare, while others will despair at the scenes of Hogarthian debauchery it occasionally throws up. But most people who visit Google’s new Street View service will probably do so to discover if they have won a place in online posterity – or to decide whether they can put off repointing the house until next year”
Sam Jones, The Guardian
Debate surrounding the pros and cons of a surveillance society started with George Owell’s 1984, and have developed through the phenomena of Big Brother and Eagle Eye. Nowadays, in the digital era, the cameras are ubiquitous and government control is even stronger. But shall we take it as useful advancement in our lives or an invasion of privacy?
Last week I had my first encounter with Google’s latest breakthrough in mapping application technology. Street View is a tool that allows you to ‘explore’ neighbourhoods at street level-virtually. The software is available in the following countries: Canada, North-West USA, Italy, Spain, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Street View UK was launched on 19th March and brings 360-degree views of roads and homes from 25 British towns and cities. Just like the US version of this software, Street View UK contains images of millions of residential houses, cars and people.
The platform has already received hundreds of requests to take down photos of various areas in the UK and could even face legal actions because of that. BBC reports: “Among them was a woman who had moved house to escape a violent partner but who was recognisable outside her new home on Street View. Also complaining were two colleagues pictured in an apparently compromising position who suffered embarrassment when the image was circulated at their workplace”
Should we then ask ourselves how far this can go? Where are the boundaries in human privacy? What will happen next? Or should we just give in to our curiosity and have a good old nosy at millions of homes?
Personally, I’ve really enjoyed having the chance to sit in the office and be transported as a virtual tourist to Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Rome or Sydney Harbour in Australia. Everything is possible via two clicks of the mouse and a nice cup of earl grey tea and... a few biscuits, of course!
Comments
Personally, I believe that the new google software was a genuine attempt to give people the acess to view 3D maps and allow them to find and reach certain destination. However, I do appreciate various comments about the negative implications of the software being launched, and that is why I have no doubts it is just a matter of time some amendments are going to be applied to the existing version of the new google application. Is that going to stop the global surveillance? Not a chance. Being nosy is human nature. Magda
Magdalena Sybilska
27th March 2009
On my last holiday abroad I went to Japan it was my first holiday where I’d be going abroad on a solo trip, so before I left the UK I printed off a map of the area of Tokyo that I would be staying in before I left from Google earth. And even thought I still got slightly lost upon my arrival I found it did help me out a lot as I felt kind of familiar with the area upon arrival. If I had access to the Google street view I probably wouldn’t have went slightly of course on my way to the hotel and been able to find it even easier being able to see the street from the same angle that id be viewing it from. So applications like Google Street can come in handy especially with a little editing to ensure the general public’s privacy where possible.
Darran Alexander
09th April 2009