I like Google Earth, I think it is a fantastic tool.
It is a bit disconcerting though that I can zoom down and (virtually) walk up the road, up the path and up to the front door of the house I used to live at in San Francisco. I hope the new neighbours didn�t mind me nosing by!
Some of the images are old - it was a huge undertaking, taking all those aerial phots, but they are being updated, but it would be impossible to update them all at the same time.
Google Street View is going to be more invasive - photos taken at ground level of every house. But of course, the car's camera will be able to see no more than a tall person can when walking down the pavement
it's only an invasion of your privacy if you need to protect the colour of the car parked outside your house between 6 and 10 years ago, if you zoom down to the blurry image about a mile above my house....