PETER FUNT Google is watching By Peter Funt | February 9, 2009 The Boston Globe
'THERE was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment . . . It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time." That quote from George Orwell's "1984" becomes increasingly prescient in light of developments in eavesdropping, pioneered by Google. Recently the company launched a service called Latitude, which allows consenting users to monitor each other's whereabouts. It's the company's latest snooping tool, the most controversial being the Street Views photographic mapping service. When I tried Street Views by entering my address, I was surprised to see that with a single click a truly Orwellian image popped onto the screen: my house, my car, the newspaper in the driveway. I could zoom in for a clear view of the open window on the second floor and the handy drain pipe that potential burglars might use to reach that window when no one was home. Google has been working on Street Views for nearly two years, an incredibly tedious process. As remarkable as the computer results are, they still require hired motorists, known as GeoImmersive Data Producers, to drive up and down every street using 11 roof-mounted cameras to snap 360-degree images. Boston was among the first cities captured by Street Views, but much of Massachusetts remains unphotographed. For example, a two-hour drive from a friend's house in Lenox to my daughter's college in Norton yields only two photos: the entrance to the Mass. Pike and, 96 miles later, the exit to I-495. But when Street Views does come to a community, it tends to spark great curiosity and raging debate about the propriety of Google's remarkable feat. To some, it is an outrageous invasion of privacy - a true step toward the world Orwell envisioned. To others, including Google management, it is simply the latest beneficial - and commercially valuable - use of modern technology. After arguing that Street Views showed nothing more than could be seen by anyone traveling on public property, Google agreed to blur all identifiable faces and license plates. But by conceding that much, Google opens the door to demands that, say, doors should be blurred, and for that matter upstairs windows and drain pipes. ... http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/02/09/google_is_watching/ *********************************** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *********************************** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
