Google Street View.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article -1162992/Google-Street-View-launches-25-cities -Britain-users-360-degree-close-live.html

Is your city amongst those that covered by Google Street View?

Whether or not it is, is this a valuable service or just an intrusion?

[craft1948]

Yes aog York is one of the places - have checked it this morning and it shows the next street to me but not my house....yet.
Am not bothered re a security point of view as am happy with my alarm systems but cannot really see the point of it - unless you're house hunting.....

[Gromit]

StreetView is excellent. I was recently choosing an hotel at which to stay in Barcelona, and I was able to see the building, look up and down the street and check out the neighbourhood before making my choice.

I have just looked and Manchester is on, but not my town on the outskirts is not.

They reckon each of us are caught on 300 CCTV cameras everyday. StreetView which is just photographs (people are blurred out were possible) is no intrusion at all and is very useful.

[tiggerblue10]

I've just recently gotten to grips with Google Earth let alone Google Street View! Lol

Never the less I will of course be looking into it. Looks interesting.

[Gromit]

StreetView on iPhone

[Julnar]

I've just found my flat in London. The curtains were closed, the windows were open- burglars paradise! But seriously, I think its an excellent way of giving you a feel for a street from your armchair. My street certainly looks prettier than I actually remember it. I must walk around with my eyes closed.

[libertie]

I live just outside Edinburgh now and I'm not on it, but just had a wee look and both my mum's and my brother's homes are on it and very nice they look too!

[sp1814]

Fantastic and ever so slightly creepy.

I've just put in the post code of our office and the front of my building comes up...which is cool...

...but if you click the 'left' button, you suddenly get a very clear picture of the head of IT Services and one of the maintenance blokes having a crafty fag near the side entrance.

Brilliant.

[NiceCupOfTea]

My road's not in it :(
Ah well, we're on that Google Earth thingy anyway, so we must exist.
The guy on BBC news who was meant to be the anti-Google guy was rubbish. I know that anyone can walk down your road and see your house in the same way as their camera did. If someone did walk up to my house, take its picture and then put it up on the net without asking me and I found out I'd be so annoyed I would definitely ask them to remove my pic.

The 'I found out' bit above is important. They've not told us individually that they've done it. However, because it's Google, and we�re all having a nose at what they�ve done and they've done the whole area, it's all right then.

[DebsyDoo]

Must agree with Gromit on this one,
It has it's uses (like when I was trying to see where my daughter lives in LA)
But as to how much (up-to-date) detail it actually shows, is a somewhat mute point.
Agree, or disagree - what can we do about it ?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Good point about the up to datedness ^. If I'm trying to sell my house, I'm going to tidy it up outside and not let them see how bad it is now......

[Gromit]

AOG

For your information:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnolog y/technology/google/5022390/Google-pulls-embar rassing-Street-View-images.html

[brionon]

Oh Gawd-The ''Don't you dare look at me, I demand my privacy'' brigade are out. I DO wish they'd boil their 'eads.

[cazzz1975]

I love street view!!!

[NiceCupOfTea]

I would not just walk up to a random house and then post it on the internet.

I would be rather cheesed off if someone just walked up to my house and took a picture of it and posted it on the net.

Would you not be also?

Why is it different just because it's Google doing it?

Does no one understand my objection?????

It is fun to have an nose, but pleeeease see the above.

[brionon]

And those people looking at us with their EYES, B"""ards.

[anotheoldgit]

NiceCupOfTea

I would be rather cheesed off if someone just walked up to my house and took a picture of it and posted it on the net

Why????? I just cannot understand why people are getting so upset over such a trivial thing. Would they get upset if they were selling their house and the estate agent took a picture of their house, then had it displayed in their high-street window, in their leaflets, in the local press, on the web etc etc?

Do they also object to persons walking up their street, road.avenue etc. and having a good butchers?

[tiggerblue10]

I found my house and car (reg. blurred out of course) on Street View. I could also see my neighbours taking their shopping out of their boot! Lol

I don't understand why it would be deemed as an invasion of privacy. If you don't know a post code or street name how would anyone know where to look and what to look for. I do think though that maybe all people should be air-brushed out as opposed to just their faces being blurred out.

[craft1948]

I've just printed off a picture of my neighbours house and given it to her - she was well upset...hee hee

[NiceCupOfTea]

Anotheoldgit you asked 'Why????? I just cannot understand why people are getting so upset over such a trivial thing. Would they get upset if they were selling their house and the estate agent took a picture of their house, then had it displayed in their high-street window, in their leaflets, in the local press, on the web etc etc?'

Of course they wouldn't be upset because they would have instructed them to do it, and once it (i.e. the sale or whatever) had been done the publicity would be removed.

Anyone who wants to can walk past me in the street and look at me. They will have to take a different stance if they want to take my pic and especially if they then also want to publish it somewhere.

Why should my property be any different?

Are we really so used to our privacy being invaded, and people inviting the public into their lives via real-TV type programmes, that we no longer think objections such as mine are strange?