My favorite blog, BoingBoing, has posted a thought-provoking summary of peoples’ reactions to Google Street View privacy hub-bub. The questions started to pour in to media outlets from concerned citizens when some people found themselves, their homes, and embarrassing moments of others displayed on the internet. The discussion is very interesting – a few people make some good points about privacy, the law, and social expectations that are being challenged by advances in technology.
Tom says,
One of your comment writers mentioned that if we find Google Street View creepy, we might need to look beyond our present legal privacy rights. So the question is, what new legal privacy rights should we be seeking?
I think we need to consider how automation can create collective privacy problems that are greater than the sum of their parts.
Link.
I think the Google street view presents a totally interesting study in proxemics. People are willing to walk down the street and take a leak in the bushes, but if they somehow end up on the internet, it’s an invasion of their privacy. What’s the solution? The dude pissing in the street says no more street view, despite its unbelievable radness and advancement of technology, when in all rational reality the solution is… tada! DON’T PISS IN THE BUSHES.
Funny. I am glad I own GOOG stock :)