PC Magazine - 2009 04.pdf - Libertad Zero - Blog

Front
What’s New from the World of Tech
Are You on the Map?
Virtual mapping programs, such as Google’s Street View, have raised
questions about privacy and security.
Online mapping has come a long way since
the days of primary-colored, slow-to-load
MapQuest images. Google and Microsoft
have taken online mapping to a new level
of realism, thanks to satellite imagery and
multilens cameras mounted on the tops
of nondescript cars and vans trolling the
streets of a town near you. This virtual
mapping technology has appeared in services
such as Google Maps’ Street View
and Microsoft’s Live Search Maps, letting
users see a panoramic, photographic
view of a location, often with overlays of
navigational map data. For the cartographi-
cally challenged, virtual mapping has been
exceedingly helpful, letting them see what
destinations look like in real life.
But along with photographing streets
and buildings, the roving cameras are also
photographing people. In most cases, those
captured in a virtual mapping image are
simply going about their daily lives—strolling
down the sidewalk or crossing an intersection.
But the rooftop cameras have also
caught people engaging in embarrassing or
potentially criminal activities, including
walking into an adult bookstore, urinating
behind a parked car, and climbing the steel
gate of a house in what looks to be a breakin
attempt. Street View has a built-in feature
to blur faces, but many say it does not
work consistently. And what about capturing
your license plate number, house number,
or your kids playing in the front yard?
Some argue that virtual mapping is a violation
of privacy, since those photographed
are unaware, and they are taking companies
like Google and Microsoft to task.
Pittsburgh residents Aaron and Christine
Boring sued Google in April 2008 for
privacy, trespassing, negligence, and unjust
enrichment after photographs of their
APRIL 2009 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION