There's no hiding from Google - at least in several U.S. cities where the company has taken snapshots up and down the streets and posted the images via its online mapping service.
And while many people are thrilled with the new service, others aren't. For instance, there's the guy who was photographed walking into a porn shop. Then there are the women sunning themselves topless in a park at Stanford. And the man trying to climb over the security gate outside a San Francisco apartment building. They were all caught by the camera lens, and now their actions reside on the Internet for all to see, raising complaints that Google is trespassing on personal privacy.
The new mapping product, unveiled Tuesday, is called Google Street Views, and it allows users to see city streetscapes as if they were driving along in a car. Cruising around San Francisco, for instance, shows people sitting at cafes, walking along the sidewalk and taking out the trash.
Users can zoom in to get close-ups of faces, and sometimes even into house windows.
The images were taken by Google, and a partner company, over several months in a handful of cities, including San Francisco, Denver, New York, Miami and Las Vegas. No real-time images are available.
Privacy groups, and a number of individuals, expressed worries that the product crosses the line by showcasing people who never consented to having themselves or their homes photographed. Google countered that the service only features what's visible from public streets and is therefore within the law.
In typical Internet fashion, many of the most salacious views are being aggregated on various sites around the Web. To see for yourself, go to Google maps and click on the "Street view" button.
source:Google Street Views offer revealing looks -- maybe too revealing / Online maps show city streetscapes up close, personal
And for your enjoyment here are the top few sightings...
Top 15 Google Street View Sightings :clap:
And while many people are thrilled with the new service, others aren't. For instance, there's the guy who was photographed walking into a porn shop. Then there are the women sunning themselves topless in a park at Stanford. And the man trying to climb over the security gate outside a San Francisco apartment building. They were all caught by the camera lens, and now their actions reside on the Internet for all to see, raising complaints that Google is trespassing on personal privacy.
The new mapping product, unveiled Tuesday, is called Google Street Views, and it allows users to see city streetscapes as if they were driving along in a car. Cruising around San Francisco, for instance, shows people sitting at cafes, walking along the sidewalk and taking out the trash.
Users can zoom in to get close-ups of faces, and sometimes even into house windows.
The images were taken by Google, and a partner company, over several months in a handful of cities, including San Francisco, Denver, New York, Miami and Las Vegas. No real-time images are available.
Privacy groups, and a number of individuals, expressed worries that the product crosses the line by showcasing people who never consented to having themselves or their homes photographed. Google countered that the service only features what's visible from public streets and is therefore within the law.
In typical Internet fashion, many of the most salacious views are being aggregated on various sites around the Web. To see for yourself, go to Google maps and click on the "Street view" button.
source:Google Street Views offer revealing looks -- maybe too revealing / Online maps show city streetscapes up close, personal
And for your enjoyment here are the top few sightings...
Top 15 Google Street View Sightings :clap: