Thoughts about Google Street View

14 Apr 2011 . category: . Comments

I love Google Street View.

Okay, that’s not much of a profound thought, but if you think about the service, it’s quite profound. A healthy portion of the United States (and the world as a whole) has been photographed, processed, and presented in a way that allows users to “walk” the world–including places many of us may never get to set foot in. (read here and here). 

That said, not everyone likes it.

 Germany and Switzerland mark just two countries where Google’s run into a little trouble with the service. From the latter article, PCWorld writes:

The court took the view that Google’s business interests did not outweigh the rights of the individuals over their own image.

I’ve seen the Google Street View car multiple times in my life, and it has likely captured my image at least once or twice. I don’t mind so much. Personally, I find the whole process of data capture to presentation fascinating, and I benefit from the service. (Try driving in Old Town, San Diego, and you’ll see what I mean).

But something that happened today got me thinking. As I was driving down the highway, I looked to my left and saw a middle-aged woman pointing a digital camera in my direction. I was a little bit surprised, but I figured she was trying to capture something on the roadside. I sped up, to clear her view, and eased off the gas. As I came back into view, she brought the camera up again, and I’m quite certain the lens was pointed at me.

My initial reaction was anger. What need did she have to take my photo? I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I hadn’t cut her off or tailgated her. I felt violated and a little criminalized. Then I remembered the street view car, and I had an important question. 

Why did it bother me that this woman was taking photos of me when I didn’t mind the Google Street View car taking the same photos?

Yes, I realize that what I witnessed on the highway doesn’t necessarily mean that I had my picture taken. However, my initial reaction, regardless of what that woman was doing, is quite telling. If it weren’t a big deal to me, I wouldn’t have gotten upset.

I’d think that part of the reason is that I know that the images Google is taking are going to a service that anyone can use for free, and that the steps Google has taken to obscure my identity satisfy me. (read here and here) Yes, there is the problem that Google can’t ask every person on the street to sign a waiver as they pass by, but we’ll leave the opt-in versus opt-out discussion for another day. Google is an institution I know, and its information about me is exposed to me.

This woman, on the other hand, is a completely different story. I don’t know who she was, what she was doing, if she was even taking photos, and if so, what she intended to do with said photos. I have no knowledge of her, and thus, no trust. Further, while Google is interested in capturing the environment for a service, this woman was capturing an image of me. That’s certainly a distinction to be had.

To close out this post, let’s bring up an old blog post from Gina Trapani, a blogger and developer I really admire. (She’s also married to a former boss of mine, which I find really cool). While she was talking more about using Yahoo! search to break the Google monopoly, she made a point about cloud computing that I find very valid.

I accept the privacy-for-convenience tradeoff. I hand over my personal information to enjoy the data-centric conveniences of the modern world every day. I don’t think one internet company is less or more evil than another…

In this age, information is currency. In discussing privacy issues, we should focus on how and why that currency is being spent, not lament the fact that it is being spent. There is a lot of value to be gained from information sharing, provided we know what we’re sharing and why. 

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